Take a Chance on MAMA MIA

We had just picked up Len's family home movies from the early 70's in East Orlando and had decided in advance that we would go to Cocoa Beach for the weekend since we were already half way there. We had located the movie theater where we would view The X-Files series new movie, I Want to Believe. We had movie times in hand and ready for a paranormal experience. When we get to the box office, we realize that the movie times were different from those published on-line, and we would have to wait 1 hour and ten minutes for our first choice movie for the weekend. Since we were eager to get to our final destination at the hotel, we chose a different movie, and MAMA MIA, was it good!

For years I had never given a second thought to the musical on Broadway of the same name. After all, who wants to go to a theater to see people sing songs from the 70's and 80's. Well, if the Broadway show is as good as the movie, then I have been missing out all of this time. MAMA MIA, the movie, is a beautifully crafted musical with the story of a bride to be, Sophie, (Amanda Seyfried) and her quest to find her father so he can walk her down the isle on her wedding day. This story is told, in part, with music from the Swedish group ABBA and the characters are portrayed by a wonderful cast. Merryl Streep is wonderful as Sophie's mother, who has struggled to make ends meet all of these years raising Sophie on her own, as the owner of a bed-and-breakfast type establishment in the hills of the Greek Isles. (Ms. Streep was also in a movie called Sophie's Choice, no relation to this one)

In an effort not to give the movie away I will just mention the rest of the notable cast but not their roles: Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, and Christine Baranski.
The music from ABBA is so very well arranged and appropriately delivered to tell the story in music through out the film.

MAMA MIA, makes you laugh out loud, sing-along, dance in your seat, and cry, but it does so in a manner where you don't suffer too much of any one emotion for too long. Look for this movie to be a contender for Best Musical at Oscar time.

We loved MAMA MIA; here we go again, my, my how can we resist giving you anything less than...... 4-Stars