The Case for Swedish Mums

Well, I didn’t get to the pictures (love that “old school” phrase), but a wee while ago, the BananaBoat showed me her DVD of film version Bjorn and Benny’s stage show, Mama Mia.

I had initially been dubious about seeing this film. I am a huge fan of the music of ABBA, but seeing the songs repackaged amongst a fragile framework of flimsy plot did not really appeal. More to the point, part of my joy of ABBA were the fantastic singing voices of Frida and Agnetha, so to hear the same songs performed by the likes of Julie Walters and Pierce Brosnan seemed underwhelming. Nonetheless, provided with DVD before me and the Bananaboat’s enthusiasm to guide me, I embarked on a quest to the Greek Islands.

Of course, these Greek islands are populated by lots of English speakers. In fact, the Greeks only really provided backup singers, and provided nothing to the tale. But the idea of having a Greek Chorus and everyone dressed up in garishly bright summer clothes obviously appealed.

The story… well, I won’t dilly dally here. The story is rubbish. Plot twists are more gentle bends sign-posted way in advance, and getting everyone together and then breaking them apart (for a wee while anyway) is completely contrived.

But the film redeems itself totally in my eyes by putting the divine Christine Baranski in the position of fending off the aggressive advances of a young, semi-clad black man with the suggestive lyrics of "Does your mother know?". That performance alone made the whole film worthwhile.

The rest is light escapism, every actor appearing to have a ball with the songs despite the dearth of development. The singing ability ranges from adequate to great (though not to the hallowed heights of the As in ABBA), but the whole thing is infectiously fun so it doesn’t really matter.

Verdict: This is the time when being the Judge is hardest. I have to come down on the side of reviewing law rather than sentimental attachment. So I will admit, Mama Mia is deeply flawed and will do nothing for those who are not ABBA fans. But my thanks to the BananaBoat for sharing the music with me. An A and half a B out of ABBA.