Phyllida Lloyd (who also directed the stage version) directed and Catherine Johnson wrote this adaptation of the Broadway musical based on ABBA songs which opens on 7/18/2008.A great cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried (from Big Love) sing and dance in this regrettable mess. We all know that this snob doesn't like musicals (but we enjoyed Sweeney Todd), and after watching this hunk of junk, I remember why.
Basically, 20 years ago, Meryl Streep jammed three dudes (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) in a short amount of time. 20 years later, the love child is ready to be married but wants her father to give her away at the wedding on a Greek Island that the mom runs a villa on. The rest of the movie is basically 'whose the daddy?'.
I'm a closet ABBA fan, so my gripe is not with the music. Meryl Streep gives her usual grand performance as does Amanda Seyfried. Gosh darnit, it looks like they're having fun!
Unfortunately, the direction and writing are so boring with superficial one-note characters and ridiculous shot choices. Worse yet, are the large production songs. They just come out of nowhere, with no logical beginning or end. The overdone musical numbers involve a huge cast with some bizarre costumes and choreography. I started to become really annoyed by the movie. In between the boring and obnoxiously arranged songs are melodramatic scenes that offer no real character insight. I just can't believe how tired this movie made me feel.
Skip this movie and put in ABBA Gold instead.
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