So, I went with a friend last night to see Mama Mia, despite the mediocre reviews and cheesy premise. A wildly popular play that I have never seen, I really wanted to know what all the hype was about. After all, people have been raving about this story for years. There were no men in the audience, kind of like Sex in the City, and the theme also revolved around love at an older age (over 30), which I find quite refreshing. The movie is pretty much what I expected, actors breaking out into Abba songs — some doing surprisingly well while others like Pierce Brosnan (who looks amazing by the way) eliciting giggles from the audience whenever he tried to invoke his baritone — and a story with lots of holes.
Towards the second half of the film, it did turn surprisingly sweet with some sentimental moments for all to enjoy. I liked the movie, it was fun, silly and a true getaway from daily life. I’m happy to see Merril Streep in anything and she looks beautiful. Either she is aging very well or has had the kind of minimal work that never looks too staged or fake.
My only real criticism is a trend I’ve noticed recently in “women’s” movies. Whenever a group of girlfriends in a film haven’t seen each other for a while, they all run screaming towards one another and sort of dance around. It happened multiple times in both SATC and Mama Mia.
I, personally, have never run screaming to my friends when we have some sort of reunion. Do women really do that? If it looks as annoying as it sounds, I’m hoping I’m never in the position where I have to run screaming down a dock, or a street in New York City with my arms flailing like a mental institution escapee to see a friend.
