Jul

18

ABBA Musical

Filed Under Family & Friends, Films, Life & Leisure, Music 


We originally planned to watch Kung Fu Panda to mark my 38th birthday last Wednesday. But somehow, after my husband’s last-minute revelation that what he really wanted to see was Hancock, we ended up watching the musical comedy Mamma Mia as a compromise.

And we didn’t regret our decision. Not one bit.

Mamma Mia, the film adaptation of the hit ABBA stage musical, tells the story of soon-to-be-married Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who, after reading her mother’s old diary entries, discovers that she has not one but three possible fathers. She secretly invites them to come to her wedding set in a beautiful Greek island, where her Mom runs a tourist villa. That’s when all the chaotic fun begins.

The cast, led by the multi-talented Meryl Streep as Sophie’s mother, did a great job fleshing out ultra comic roles that required them to sing and dance to hit songs of the famous Swedish pop group. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard, who played the three fathers, were simply hilarious in the “Waterloo” musical number that capped the film. Not to be forgotten are the lady sidekicks of Meryl Streep, played by Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, whose outrageous performances provided great comic relief.

The film is truly LOL funny. I’ve never laughed so loud and repeatedly at that inside a Swiss cinema before — Swiss moviegoers, I’ve observed, are usually reserved and I always try not to laugh so hard when watching comedy films so as not to disturb the peace and tranquility in the moviehouse (”Swiss integration,” my dear friends). But with Mamma Mia, I literally had tears in my eyes from too much laughing, sequence after sequence. I couldn’t help it.

This is the kind of movie you don’t have to carefully critique for its cinematic elements — it actually has a thin plot — and technically digest for Oscar-like reviews. Mamma Mia is, after all, one wacky comedy that encourages its viewers to loosen up and take its brand of humor seriously.

Comments

5 Responses to “ABBA Musical”

  1. Jayred on July 18th, 2008 10:42 am

    P.S. I’m not really an ABBA fan — I belong to the Menudo and Spandau Ballet generation — but I must say I really like the ABBA music used to weave the story in Mama Mia. I intend to buy the movie soundtrack and might even buy all the Abba CDs on Amazon or eBay. (And yes, buy the still-to-be-released DVD!)

    ABBA fans will just love this film!

    BTW, I saw my picture in a widely read paper today. A journalist, who was at the theater last Wednesday, interviewed me and asked me why I came to watch Mamma Mia (the interview was done before I watched the film). My photo and my response to her forum question (she translated it from English to German) were published on the front page of one of the lifestyle sections (yikes!).

  2. Sining on July 19th, 2008 1:04 pm

    Belated Happy Birthday, Jayred!!!:) What a fun way to enjoy your birthday. I should definitely try to watch Mamma Mia especially when my childhood crush Pierce Brosnan is there. I also remember watching two movies with my parents on my 18th birthday. Up to now, the scenes and messages of Sleepless in Seattle and The Secret Garden still reverberate in my head…:)

    By the way, thanks for mentioning WHEN your birthday is. I’ve been wondering this whole while. My guess was that it was on the 24th.:P

  3. myepinoy on July 22nd, 2008 5:14 pm

    Belated Happy Birthday!

    Bakit nakalimutan ko ito. LOL

  4. bing on July 23rd, 2008 5:34 pm

    hey, jayred! belated happy birthday. i am sure it is a beautiful movie with meryl streep and pierce brosnan there. i just couldnt understand how one can control laughter in a movie house when it is that funny. :-)

  5. Jayred on July 25th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Thanks for the birthday greetings, everyone. Just got back from a four-day holiday.

    Sining, it’s easy to remember my birthday — think of the July 16, 1990 earthquake in RP and the July 16, 1999 death of JFK Jr. Catastrophic date, huh? You know, Pierce Brosnan’s role in “Mamma Mia” reminded me of his “Remington Steele” days. His good ol’ comic flair was there. (I enjoyed watching “Sleepless in Seattle” and “The Secret Garden” with my sister, my regular cinema buddy when I was still single.)

    Myepinoy, just this: why nga? :-)

    Bing, like you, it beats me how some Swiss moviegoers can do that. :-) My sister noted that too when we watched the funny film “Holiday” in a Swiss cinema. Kami lang yung tumatawa. Go watch the film “Mamma Mia” and have fun. Meryl Streep is not only a great actress but a great singer as well.

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