Mamma Mia! has to be an inside joke, as in, how much can we blow on what's clearly a terrible film? The answer: Whatever the budget is here. This thing is merciless. The singing, the dancing, the uber-cheesiness, the plot in general -- hell, even the concept as a whole is clearly meant to inflict pain.

I liked Dreamgirls. I'm a fan of Chicago too. Moulin Rouge? Sign me up. So it's not like the musical genre completely misses me. But Mamma Mia! suffers from the same problem Across the Universe did -- the music of a particular band doesn't necessarily add up to a cohesive story. But where Across the Universe had The Beatles' catalogue to work with, a band that's world-renowned for lyrical quality, this one has ABBA. It's an issue.

The threadbare story involves Meryl Streep's daughter's wedding (she's played by Amanda Seyfried) in the Greek islands. Meryl has raised the kid on her own for 20 years, without poppa in the picture. That's all well and good except for the fact that the daughter has invited three men who could potentially be her father to the wedding, the plan being that her actual father will give her away once she figures out who he is. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard play the fellas. Much singing and dancing is there to be had as this soap opera plays out.

The two main issues are cheese factor and concept. The cheese looms huge because the songs are so out of place. One moment someone will be speaking from the heart and the next they are singing "It's a rich man's world" in response to not having enough money. It's all smiles, giggles, and squeals, which makes the whole thing feel largely fake. Which leads nicely to the concept as a whole. Why make this movie? It *might* work on the stage, where we don't have to deal with so many painful, slow-motion shots of Streep bouncing on a bed like a four-year-old. So yeah, the translation to the big screen comes off as pointless and inauthentic. Everyone just wanders around, pausing every five minutes to sing trite nonsense. Sad stuff.

If you're a fan of the original stage play or want the ultimate counter-programming to The Dark Knight, I can see you giving this a try. I suppose one could have fun, given the right alcohol level, with the sheer randomness of plot occurrences. For anyone else I've got to think this is a pass. Sorry ABBA. No hard feelings.

Grade: D

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