Christine Baranski (left), Meryl Streep and Julie Walters relive their glory days in ‘Mamma Mia,’ a movie musical based on the songs of gay favorite ABBA. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)
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GREG MARZULLO
Friday, July 18, 2008
It’s official — Meryl Streep has sealed her place in the pantheon of gay icons.
Sure, she’s been loved by gays for her incredible acting skills throughout her career, but with her diva bitch role in “The Devil Wears Prada” followed so closely by her fantastic turn in movie musical “Mamma Mia,” it’s a done deal.
What makes her such a delight in the film, though, is not just that she takes a risk in a camp-laden and sometimes mawkish musical, but she, once again, fleshes out her character into a three-dimensional, vibrant part of the story.
And it is a typical movie musical story.
The 20-year-old Sophie (a charming Amanda Seyfried) has been raised by her mother Donna (Streep) on a small Greek island, and at the movie’s opening, she’s about to take the marital plunge. In preparation, the fatherless girl has read her mother’s diary from a summer of love that led to Sophie’s conception, and the young woman sends wedding invitations to her three potential fathers — supposedly from her mother.
The men arrive, recalling the siren call of their youthful dalliances with Donna, and they are a motley and endearing crew: romantic hero Sam (the dashing, if not perfectly voiced, Pierce Brosnan), adventurer Bill (Stellan Skarsgård, seen recently as Boostrap Bill in Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise), and uptight Harry (a wonderful Colin Firth).
Before Donna discovers these blasts from the past during a winning rendition of the title song, her own girlfriends arrive, Rosie (a hysterical Julie Walters) and diva Tanya (the perfectly cast Christine Baranski). The three ladies were part of a rock band in their salad days, a conceit that gives minimal context for their bursting into song at the slightest provocation.
Confronted by three dads, Donna, who has no idea who the father really is, comes face-to-face with her past and her teetering present — a daughter’s about to leave the nest, the small hotel she runs is on the brink of ruin and her personal life is arid at best.
LUCKILY, ALL THE stress of an upcoming nuptial and the proverbial chickens coming home to roost is great fodder for costume changes and production numbers of classic ABBA songs. I nervously fidgeted in my seat, waiting for Streep to open her mouth and caterwaul her way through iconic rock songs, but with her first number, “Money, Money, Money,” I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she can sing — for real. And true to form for Streep, she imbued each note and gesture with her acting charm, grace and formidable skill.
But it’s not all about Streep. Only in the movies can a musical take on such a grand scale and when filmed with the Greek isles as a backdrop, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by aquamarine waters, precipitous cliffs, groves of olive trees and beautiful natives, young and old.
Some of the ABBA songs’ connections to the story’s arc are specious, but this concern quickly melts under fantastic choreography and filming. “Dancing Queen” starts with Donna’s gal pals trying to convince her to remember her glory days and ends with Greek housewives throwing off their aprons and shrugging bundles of firewood from their shoulders to join the leading ladies in dancing and singing, eventually making their way to the docks and into the waters of the Aegean. It’s pure movie magic.
In our current world plight, with a seemingly endless, violent debacle in the Middle East, a tanking economy and ecological crisis, you might wonder during the film’s first few moments why any of this privileged girl’s ultimately petty dramas should matter to anyone in the audience. But shortly after a few uplifting songs, a well-choreographed dance sequence and a message of love triumphing over bitterness, it becomes clear that more movie musicals could be just the thing we really need.
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