Mamma Mia! [Blu-ray] [Region Free]

Product Description ------------------- Feelgood blockbuster adaptation of the smash-hit stage musical, with Meryl Streep finding love the second time around on the Greek isles. After reading her mother Donna (Streep)'s diary, soon-to-be-wed Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) invites three of her mother's old flames, Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), Sam (Pierce Brosnan), and Harry (Colin Firth) to the wedding, in the hope of finding out who her real her is. Arriving on the sun-drenched Mediterranean island for the first time in 20 years, the now middle-aged hunks soon rekindle long dormant emotions, causing Donna to revisit her past glories, and, with the help of her two oldest friends, Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski), belt out all those Abba hits with the exuberance of a spring chicken. .co.uk Review ------------- The delirious of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing "Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep), sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because after reading her mother's diary, she suspects that one of them is her her. When all three arrive at the Greek island where Donna runs a hotel, Donna flips out and finds that passions she thought she'd laid aside are coming back to life. But let's face it, the plot is not the point--it's a ridiculous contrivance that provides an excuse for the characters to sing the massive hits of ABBA. Regrettably, first-time film director Phyllida Lloyd (who directed the original stage production) has drawn over-the-top performances from everyone involved, even Streep; every production number hammers its exuberance into your eyeballs. Which is too bad, because Mamma Mia! is a rarity: A middle-aged love story. The kids start things off, but the story is really about Streep and the three guys (former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, former Mr. Darcy Colin Firth, and Swedish star Stellan Skarsgard), as well as Donna's best friends (Christine Baranski, best known from the TV show Cybill, and Julie Walters, Girls). It's a romantic comedy ed at the people who were around when all these songs were new, and that's an age group Hollywood largely ignores. For that alone, Mamma Mia! deserves to find an audience. --Bret Fetzer

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