Mama Mia

Now this film probably isn't to everyone's taste and has certainly got extremely mixed not to say poor reviews - especially from male reviewers, but I just love this movie! It makes you feel so uplifted and it is fun, fun, fun. Really the story doesn't matter terribly much, but lets go through

it. Sophie is about to get married, and her mother (played by Meryl Streep) a former member of a 'girl band' running a run down hotel on a remote Greek Island can't be certain which of three men she slept with 21 years ago was her daughter's father. Sophie reads her mother's diary for that fateful summer and invites the three contenders (including Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan) along for the ceremony. Julie Walters is one of Meryl Streep's friends who is along for the ride. The tumultuous two days are illustrated by a string of ABBA hits - sung by the main actors (not dubbed) and Meryl Streep is an absolute revelation, and belts out the fast numbers with aplomb, and the slower songs with feeling (Slipping Through My Fingers is emotional). Neither Colin Firth nor Pierce Brosnan are your conventional singers - but that doesn't detract from the performance - it seems somehow more endearing - and Colin's rendition of Last Summer, made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Bennie & Bjorn (the composing duo of ABBA) really did write some truly cracking stuff - and the whole essence of pop songs is that they resonate and are associated with moments in your life - and ABBA songs have always been a commentary on mine - maybe Mama Mia will become part of the soundtrack of a new generation. A feel good rating of 9/10