Money, money, money – how did it make so much?

by Anon

Mamma Mia the movie was released in 2008. It went on to become the highest grossing musical of all time internationally. It’s the sixth highest grossing film of all time in the UK behind Skyfall, Avatar, Titanic, Toy Story and Harry Potter. You could say it’s in good company.

Nominated for two golden globes and three BAFTAs, I had high expectations and rightly so I thought as I glanced at the stellar cast list on the back of the DVD case recently, having never seen the film or the musical it was based on.

Set on a Greek island, with songs of Abba, the story revolves around a young bride-to-be, Sophie and her desire to find her father. The film opens with Sophie looking forlorn and out to seas as she sings “I have a dream”. From then on in, the film goes rapidly downhill.

After reading her mum’s diary from around the time she was conceived, Sophie writes to her three possible fathers to invite them to her wedding because obviously the mum had the foresight to write their full postal addresses in her diary and nobody has moved house in the last twenty years.

Regardless Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Dominic Cooper turn up and it would have been better if they hadn’t bothered. Their singing is absolutely terrible and as the film goes on, there is a glint in Firth’s eyes to suggest he too is unconvinced that taking this role was such a good idea for his career.

Meryl Streep jumps around for most of the film singing and dancing under some delusion that she is   captivating and irresistible to these three men that have come back into her life even after Firth’s character, without a clue or hint throughout the film, announces he’s gay - maybe it was practicing all the Abba songs that did it.

The film culminates in the daughter’s wedding that in the end doesn’t take place so after twenty years of not seeing each other Meryl Streep’s character and one of the three fathers decide to get married instead to save wasting the souvlakis.

Not even Abba’s music or the stunning location could save this film from being a Greek tragedy.