Mamma Mia!
Teaser poster
Directed by	Phyllida Lloyd
Produced by	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus (executive) Gary Goetzman Tom Hanks (executive) Rita Wilson (executive)
Written by	Catherine Johnson Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Starring	Meryl Streep Amanda Seyfried Pierce Brosnan Colin Firth Stellan Skarsgård Dominic Cooper Julie Walters Christine Baranski
Music by	Stig Anderson Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Cinematography	Haris Zambarloukos
Editing by	Lesley Walker
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Playtone Littlestar
Release date(s)	July 3, 2008 (GRE) July 10, 2008 (AUS,UK, NZ) July 11, 2008 (SWE) July 18, 2008 (USA) July 24, 2008 (ISR)
Running time	108 min.[1]
Country	USA UK
Language	English
Budget	$52,000,000
Gross revenue	Domestic: $62,714,000 Worldwide: $174,000,000
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Mamma Mia! is a film adaptation of the West End stage musical, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music also composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson. Despite opening in the USA on the same date as the critically acclaimed Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" on July 18, 2008, the film did very well at the box office and had the largest opening weekend of any musical film in U.S. history. Like the stage musical, the film's title originates from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", and its plot is loosely based on the 1968 film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell. It was produced by Universal Pictures in partnership with Playtone and Littlestar.^[2] It was released on July 3, 2008, in Greece,^[3] July 10, 2008, in Australia and the United Kingdom, July 11, 2008, in Sweden,^[3], July 16, 2008, in the Philippines and on July 18, 2008, in the United States and Canada.^[4]

Meryl Streep heads the cast of the film, playing the role of single mother Donna Sheridan. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård play the three potential fathers to Donna's daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried).

[edit] Plot

20-year-old Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) lives with her mother Donna (Meryl Streep) on a small Greek island, where Donna runs a small hotel named Villa Donna. Sophie is planning to marry Sky (Dominic Cooper), and wants her father to be present to "give her away," but does not know who he is. After reading Donna's diary from 20 years ago, she concludes he is one of three men: Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth), or Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård). Unbeknownst to her mother and fianceé, Sophie mails invitations to all three, and hopes to find out who her father is. Sophie tells her two best friends, Ali (Ashley Lilley) and Lisa (Rachel McDowall) about her potential fathers ("Honey, Honey"). All three men come to the island, still not knowing why they have been invited, and Sophie hides them upstairs in the goat house, getting them to agree not to reveal she wrote to them pretending to be her mother Donna.Other guests have also arrived from the harbor: Donna's longtime friends, single, fun-loving writer Rosie (Julie Walters) and rich three-time divorcée Tanya (Christine Baranski).

Donna, making repairs to the hotel she cannot afford,("Money, Money, Money") hears noises upstairs, and peers inside the trap door and window. Donna recognizes the men she had dated ("Mamma Mia"), but she cannot get inside the locked room. Finally, she climbs to the rooftop, and then falls through the top door. Donna, unable to handle the memories, asks the three men to leave, so they simply stay in the harbour on Bill's boat. Seeing the three men has sent Donna into shock, and her two friends, Tanya and Rosie, try to reassure her ("Chiquitita"). However, Donna's depression continues, so the friends remind her of her free-spirited past ("Dancing Queen") and Donna rebounds: the three sing together and dance through the streets, joined by many women of the town, dancing down to the harbor pier. (Former ABBA member Benny Andersson appears playing the piano in this scene).

That evening, the three women, at a hen party, recreate their old musical group, Donna and the Dynamos, (singing "Super Trouper") to entertain at the bachelorette party. The three men come to the party, and the crowd separates. Sophie talks to Bill, and he realizes he could be her father. She asks him to give her away at the wedding. The other two men also conclude that they could be the father, and separately, each tell Sophie they will be the one to give her away at the wedding. Sofie then faints, due to anxiety over the situation she got herself in ("Voulez-Vous"). To avoid contention between the three men, Sophie instead asks Donna to give her away. Harry, feeling responsible for missing 20 years of Sophie's life, insists that Donna accept a large monetary gift to cover the cost of the wedding.

While talking to Sam, Donna, making more repairs, attempts to seal the cracks in the central-courtyard dolphin mosaic, but the caulking nozzle splits, further thwarting her efforts of the day. Donna must rush to other preparations. Sam and Donna have tried to talk to each other, but each have concealed their feelings, and each laments their love separately ("SOS"). Meanwhile, Tanya rejects the playful advances of some of Sky's friends ("Does Your Mother Know?").

After telling Sky that she has invited all three fathers, Sky says that he is unsure of what he wants to do about the wedding. Sophie rushes up to Donna and asks her if she will help her prepare for the wedding and she agrees, whilst preparing, they both reminisce about the times before being engaged ("Slipping Through My Fingers").

Donna, still unaware of Sam's true feelings, and rushing to the hilltop wedding, tells Sam to stop talking to her ("The Winner Takes It All"). Sam is stunned. During the wedding ceremony, Donna finally mentions the "father" issue, and the secrets begin unraveling: all three potential fathers publicly make a claim to be Sophie's father and agree to happily take a 'third' each, and Harry admits that he is gay. Sophie and Sky then decide to postpone the wedding, as Sky wanted all along, and to make a journey together. Sam proposes to Donna, revealing he is divorced, and argues that if they marry right away, the wedding party is not wasted. Donna agrees to marry Sam ("I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"). He sings his speech ("When All Is Said and Done").

During the after-wedding party, Rosie reveals she is strongly attracted to Bill; ("Take a Chance on Me"), he does not reciprocate at first, but eventually gives in. One issue remains to be resolved: as the crowd dances in the courtyard, the central dolphin mosaic breaks open, in a tremor, and a tall spray rains over the party. Donna suggests that it may the work of Aphrodite. The closing scene of the film shows Sophie and Sky sailing to the horizon to begin their life together and see the world, leaving Donna and Sam to live happily ever after on the island.

After the closing scene, there is another of the Donna and the Dynamos performing the ABBA song "Dancing Queen" over the credits. Finally, the entire cast sings "Waterloo" (the first ABBA hit) together dressed in some of the glittery clothes of the 70s and 80s made trendy largely by the ABBA group themselves. In the final shot, cameo apprearances of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and other notable people of the Mamma Mia! production are depicted as Greek gods and goddesses in a heavenly setting overlooking the cast's final performance.

[edit] Cast

• Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan, Sophie's mother, owner of a hotel the "Villa Donna".^[5]
• Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Sheridan, Donna's daughter and Sky's fiancée.^[6]
• Julie Walters as Rosie, one of Donna's best friends, an unmarried author who likes to have fun.
• Christine Baranski as Tanya, one of Donna's best friends, a rich three-time divorcée,
• Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael, Sophie's possible dad #1 and an American architect.^[7]
• Colin Firth as Harry Bright, Sophie's possible dad #2 and a British banker.
• Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson, Sophie's possible dad #3, a Swedish sailor and travel writer.
• Dominic Cooper as Sky, Sophie's fiancé.
• Philip Michael as Pepper, a young man who likes Tanya.
• Ashley Lilley as Ali, a close friend of Sophie.
• Rachel McDowall as Lisa, a close friend of Sophie.

[edit] Musical numbers/soundtrack

Main article: Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack Featuring the Songs of ABBA

1. "I Have a Dream" – Sophie
2. "Honey, Honey" – Sophie
3. "Money, Money, Money" – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
4. "Mamma Mia" – Donna
5. "Chiquitita" - Tanya and Rosie
6. "Dancing Queen" – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
7. "Our Last Summer" – Sophie, Sam, Harry, and Bill
8. "Lay All Your Love on Me" – Sky and Sophie
9. "Super Trouper" – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
10. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - Sophie, Ali, and Lisa
11. "The Name of the Game" – Sophie and Bill (deleted scene on DVD-Video)
12. "Voulez-Vous" – Cast
13. "SOS" – Sam and Donna
14. "Does Your Mother Know" – Tanya and Pepper
15. "Slipping Through My Fingers" – Donna and Sophie
16. "The Winner Takes It All" – Donna
17. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - Cast
18. "When All is Said and Done" – Sam and Company
19. "Take a Chance on Me" – Rosie and Bill
20. "Mamma Mia" (Reprise) – Cast
21. "I Have a Dream" – Sophie
22. "Dancing Queen" – Donna, Tanya and Rosie (over the closing credits)
23. "Waterloo" – Cast (over the closing credits)
24. "Thank You for the Music" - Sophie (over the closing credits)

The soundtrack was released July 8, 2008 by Decca.

The songs "Under Attack", "One of Us," and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" were removed from the movie's script while "Thank You for the Music" has been removed from the show' narrative and instead placed during the closing credits. "Under Attack" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" appear in the film as instrumentals during scene activity.

The songs "Chiquitita", "Waterloo" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" were filmed and remain intact but are not included on the soundtrack. Sophie and Bill's song "The Name of the Game" was recently announced as having been cut from the final cut of the film. The scene will be included in the deleted scenes of the DVD release. "The Name of the Game" however remains on the soundtrack.

"When All is Said and Done", the lead single in North America from ABBA's 1981 and final studio album, The Visitors, was included in the film as a new song not present in the stage musical. "When All Is Said and Done" was ABBA's last top 30 hit in the United States.

Songs that were not included on the soundtrack included the prologue of "I Have a Dream", "Chiquitita", "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and the songs that play over the credits, "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen". "Thank You for the Music" appears as a hidden track.

In the film, there is a hidden nod to another ABBA hit: Donna is humming the chorus of "Fernando" to herself as she is walking into the goathouse. In the stage musical, Donna hums the chorus in the beginning scenes of her doing repairs to the taverna with powertools, most notably a drill gun, preceding the song "Mamma Mia".

[edit] Production

Most of the filming was done on the Greek islands of Skopelos and Skiathos and the seaside hamlet of Damouchari in the Pelion area of Greece, while parts of the film were produced on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios, where lighting and temperature could be controlled. Production offices for the film were based at Pinewood Studios.

Both composers Benny and Björn appear in minor, uncredited roles in the film. Benny, dressed as a fisherman, adds the signature chords to "Dancing Queen" as the cast dances; Björn is a Greek god (with lyre) showering the girls with gold dust during the closing credits.

Actress Meryl Streep had taken opera singing lessons as a child, and as an adult, she had previously sung in several movies, including Postcards from the Edge (1990) and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).^[8]

The Mamma Mia! trailer was released the week of December 10, 2007 first on Entertainment Tonight, then released to the internet. A high quality version can be found on the film's official website.

[edit] Release

ABBA appeared together 2008. Photo: Daniel Åhs Karlsson

Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog joined Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at the Swedish premiere of the film, held at the Rival Theatre in Mariatorget, Stockholm, owned by Andersson, on 2008-07-04. It was the first time all four members of ABBA had been photographed together since 1986.^[9]

[edit] Reception

Mamma Mia! received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 54% of critics gave the film positive reviews based upon a sample of 125 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10.^[10] while IMDB users have given the movie 7.1/10. Variety gave it a generally positive review, but noted that "some stars, especially the bouncy and rejuvenated Streep, seem better suited for musical comedy than others, including Brosnan and Skarsgard."^[11] The Times gave it four stars out of five,^[12] as did Channel 4 which said it had "all the swing and sparkle of sequined bell-bottoms."^[13] The Guardian was more negative, giving it one star, stating that the film gave the reviewer a "need to vom".^[14] The Daily Telegraph stated that it was enjoyable but poorly put together ("Finding the film a total shambles was sort of a shame, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll go to see it again anyway.")^[15], whereas Empire said it was "cute, clean, camp fun, full of sunshine and toe tappers."^[16]

[edit] Box office

When released on July 3 (2008) in Greece, the film grossed $1,602,646 in its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the Greek box office.^[17] The film also opened at #1 in the U.K, taking £6,594,058 on 496 screens. The film made $9,627,000 in its opening day in the United States and Canada, and $27,605,376 in its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office, far behind The Dark Knight.^[18] This makes Mamma Mia! the record-holder for the biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical, surpassing Hairspray's box office record in 2007. As of July 28, Mamma Mia! has grossed $111.7 million internationally and 62.7 million in the US, for a worldwide total of 174 million dollars, all on an estimated budget of 52 million.^[19]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Mamma Mia! at the Internet Movie Database
• Mamma Mia! at Allmovie
• Mamma Mia! at Box Office Mojo
• Mamma Mia! at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mamma Mia! at Metacritic