"Why, why did I ever let you go" ...to this movie?
Pierce Brosnan Makes the Baby Tyrra Cry: a review of Mamma Mia. Full of spoilers, but if you haven't shelled out for a ticket yet, you're definitely better off waiting for Netflix anyway.
I am a musicals goob. Like. Big time. I also grew up listening to Abba -- "Magic of Abba" was the first record I ever bought. Not surprisingly, I love the stage version of Mamma Mia. It also helps that I have realized that I have passed out of "ingenue" territory as an actress, and it makes me happy that there are roles like these to look forward to.
I was iffy when I heard they were making it a movie -- or, rather, once I heard who was in it. I've been very pleasantly surprised at the singing talents of people I had never known to be singers before -- Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Katherine Zeta-Jones and many others. But I took one look at Pierce Brosnan and thought...no way. I hoped I would be pleasantly surprised. I wasn't. OMFG. The worst part? Dude knows he can't sing. He looks uncomfortable every time he has to sing. It's not pretty. Visually or aurally.
And Meryl Streep.
Explain this, please. Glenn Close -- multiple Tony-award winning actress. The right age range. Fantastic singer, outstanding actress. Instead, we get Meryl Streep. At least she has the grace to look like she knows what she's doing, even when my ears tell me otherwise. I didn't like her interpretation of Donna, but it wasn't bad. It just made me sad when I think about all the other people who could have done it better.
I was not disappointed, however, in Christine Baranski as Tanya. It's a great role, and she kicks ass in it. She's a great singer, and it shows. Equally as good -- or possibly better -- is Amanda Seyfield as Sophie. Great singer, great energy. She sells the songs so that you really believe it. It's a little distracting that she's so incredibly wee next to the two other girls playing her pals, but I am not one to bust on someone for being height-challenged.
Julie Waters as Rosie was...eh. It's probably my favorite role in the play, and I just had a hard time buying her as a former rock-star. Her singing was fine, her acting was OK...but she looked like a mousy, kind of raunchy dyke, and that really didn't fit in with the other ladies. They restructured a lot of the play, so that a lot of the punch was taken out of "Take a Chance On Me," and that was a drag.
The two young guys, playing Skye and Pepper, were great. Good singers, good looking, did their parts well. Same for the two Friends-of-Sophie whose character names I never remember. They were pretty and competent but only memorable for their wicked awesome sounding celtic accents.;-)
Colin Firth was fine -- he's not a trained singer, but his part in "Our Last Summer" was one of the better musical moments.
Stellan Skaaarrsgaaaard or whatever his name was -- again, didn't look very comfortable throughout the whole thing, though his scene on the boat with Colin Firth was nice.
But it's the "background" that bothered me musically, more than anything else. For example, I know that Christine B. and Julie W. can sing. But everyone, including the good singers, is so buried under layers and layers of backing vocals that it all turns into mush. This isn't just because all songs of that style have gobs of backing vocals - in the stage production, individual soloists had easily discernable voices. Everyone is buried in a wash of muszak in this movie, though. And then there were the creepy townie extras. Yeah. I suspend disbelief as well as the next person. I'm fine with people breaking into song and dance at any moment. But the townie chorus people were just...creepy. Who told you you could be in my song? Get your creepy ass over there and finish the laundry, and stay out of my song.
So was there anything good? As ladylilo and I said before the movie, we were going for the visuals, and the views of the ocean were gorgeous. I liked seeing the same basic settings from the play on a "broader canvas". I had a weird "13th Warrior" flashback with the line of lights going up the island from the shore at one point, but overall, it was nice eye candy.
As a purist, I wanted to see it, and I'm not, despite mistervimes' suggestion, going to take the CD back. I have three versions of Jeckyll and Hyde, at least four of Les Miz, two of Phantom, and tons of others; I like hearing different takes on the same music.
That said, however... I doubt I'll be pulling the soundtrack CD out anytime soon.
You know how when you go to World of Coke, you go to the Tasting Room and drink something, and you say "OMG, this tastes awful, here, you have to try it!" That's probably the only circumstance under which I will play that CD.
If you are not a huge musicals/Abba fan, give this one a miss. If you are, then download it for free somewhere or wait for Netflix. No matter how much you love it, this is not worth movie theatre/highway robbery prices.
I am a musicals goob. Like. Big time. I also grew up listening to Abba -- "Magic of Abba" was the first record I ever bought. Not surprisingly, I love the stage version of Mamma Mia. It also helps that I have realized that I have passed out of "ingenue" territory as an actress, and it makes me happy that there are roles like these to look forward to.
I was iffy when I heard they were making it a movie -- or, rather, once I heard who was in it. I've been very pleasantly surprised at the singing talents of people I had never known to be singers before -- Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Katherine Zeta-Jones and many others. But I took one look at Pierce Brosnan and thought...no way. I hoped I would be pleasantly surprised. I wasn't. OMFG. The worst part? Dude knows he can't sing. He looks uncomfortable every time he has to sing. It's not pretty. Visually or aurally.
And Meryl Streep.
Explain this, please. Glenn Close -- multiple Tony-award winning actress. The right age range. Fantastic singer, outstanding actress. Instead, we get Meryl Streep. At least she has the grace to look like she knows what she's doing, even when my ears tell me otherwise. I didn't like her interpretation of Donna, but it wasn't bad. It just made me sad when I think about all the other people who could have done it better.
I was not disappointed, however, in Christine Baranski as Tanya. It's a great role, and she kicks ass in it. She's a great singer, and it shows. Equally as good -- or possibly better -- is Amanda Seyfield as Sophie. Great singer, great energy. She sells the songs so that you really believe it. It's a little distracting that she's so incredibly wee next to the two other girls playing her pals, but I am not one to bust on someone for being height-challenged.
Julie Waters as Rosie was...eh. It's probably my favorite role in the play, and I just had a hard time buying her as a former rock-star. Her singing was fine, her acting was OK...but she looked like a mousy, kind of raunchy dyke, and that really didn't fit in with the other ladies. They restructured a lot of the play, so that a lot of the punch was taken out of "Take a Chance On Me," and that was a drag.
The two young guys, playing Skye and Pepper, were great. Good singers, good looking, did their parts well. Same for the two Friends-of-Sophie whose character names I never remember. They were pretty and competent but only memorable for their wicked awesome sounding celtic accents.;-)
Colin Firth was fine -- he's not a trained singer, but his part in "Our Last Summer" was one of the better musical moments.
Stellan Skaaarrsgaaaard or whatever his name was -- again, didn't look very comfortable throughout the whole thing, though his scene on the boat with Colin Firth was nice.
But it's the "background" that bothered me musically, more than anything else. For example, I know that Christine B. and Julie W. can sing. But everyone, including the good singers, is so buried under layers and layers of backing vocals that it all turns into mush. This isn't just because all songs of that style have gobs of backing vocals - in the stage production, individual soloists had easily discernable voices. Everyone is buried in a wash of muszak in this movie, though. And then there were the creepy townie extras. Yeah. I suspend disbelief as well as the next person. I'm fine with people breaking into song and dance at any moment. But the townie chorus people were just...creepy. Who told you you could be in my song? Get your creepy ass over there and finish the laundry, and stay out of my song.
So was there anything good? As ladylilo and I said before the movie, we were going for the visuals, and the views of the ocean were gorgeous. I liked seeing the same basic settings from the play on a "broader canvas". I had a weird "13th Warrior" flashback with the line of lights going up the island from the shore at one point, but overall, it was nice eye candy.
As a purist, I wanted to see it, and I'm not, despite mistervimes' suggestion, going to take the CD back. I have three versions of Jeckyll and Hyde, at least four of Les Miz, two of Phantom, and tons of others; I like hearing different takes on the same music.
That said, however... I doubt I'll be pulling the soundtrack CD out anytime soon.
You know how when you go to World of Coke, you go to the Tasting Room and drink something, and you say "OMG, this tastes awful, here, you have to try it!" That's probably the only circumstance under which I will play that CD.
If you are not a huge musicals/Abba fan, give this one a miss. If you are, then download it for free somewhere or wait for Netflix. No matter how much you love it, this is not worth movie theatre/highway robbery prices.