The Winner Takes It All

One of our readers, Lisa of New Jersey, asked if we were going to see Mamma Mia! again. Yes, girl. We did. That’s four times. I know it’s not a world record, but it’s three times more than any other movie I’ve seen at a cinema theatre.

Movie ticket sales for Mamma Mia! are now way over the $521million mark; fortunately at between $12 and $20 a visit it’s not been all my money –as if! There doesn’t appear to be a recession in the Mamma Mia! industry. It has now become the 5th highest grossing for movie sales in 2008 and the 59th of all time, worldwide, of all movies.

The DVD of the movie is out soon so I guess, for Lisa’s sake at least, I’ll have to review it here, although I must point out that anyone else can read the review as well!

I’m looking forward to the DVD extras, particularly the cut scene where ‘The Name Of The Game’ would have been performed. It’s due out in Australia on November 6th, the UK on November 24th and the USA on December 16th. All 2008. Come on guys, I can’t call up Amazon in every country to check, can I? It’s probably available at a bootleg store near you now, but please avoid that and make sure the cast and crew get their fair share, whether it’s a $500 film or a million dollar movie.

I still see new little touches in the movie. The relationship between Donna and Sam becomes a shinning light of expert screenplay writing and on screen chemistry. A special mention of quaility goes to Pierce Brosnan. On the fourth time of watching the film, his acting ability really shows through. He did an exceptional job. Good on you, Bond. It’s often said that the best actors act without you really noticing they’re acting. That’s exactly how this man’s moves turn out here.

I’ve just had a look over Lisa’s website. She’s an excellent performance poet. I look forward to her next book of poetry. I’ll do you a deal Lisa of New Jersey. You tell everyone about this website (without any spamming) and I’ll review your book. Fair enough?

So when all is said and done, take a chance on me. Gimme, gimme, gimme the money, money, money; honey, honey. Your book review will not be slipping through my fingers; that’s the name of the game Chiquitita Lisa. Voulez Vous?

One, I keep seeing more delicate subtle touches throughout the film and two; I appreciate Abba’s songs more than I ever did before.

Catherine Johnson’s screenplay is a masterpiece. I don’t know how much time she spent on the original play, but it must have been into the months, rather than weeks. Now to transfer it to the big screen she’s achieved another stunning success in making changes that bring the stage show to further life.

I don’t know if the extra touches were Ms Johnsons’s or director Phyllida Lloyd’s ideas, but I expect I’ll have to watch it over and over again when it comes out on DVD to spot more and I doubt I ever will locate them all. Stavros in many disguises is a regular visitor to the screen, but you’ll have to see it to witness what I mean. Meryl Streep humming ‘Fernando’ while on her way to the goat house will be easy to see, but spot the Greek bystanders and staff singing backing vocals to the star’s songs shows how well the Abba songs were constructed.

One of my favourite songs has always been ‘Take A Chance On Me.’ In the movie they turn it around so the opening is sung at the end of the song; it works so well perhaps Benny & Bjorn might have jigged it around had they known.

This brings us to those Benny and Bjorn songs. I admit it, the melodies were so strong, and the chorus’ so easy to sing along to, that there was hardly time to dissect the actual words. Now there’s time to do just that and here we find such beautiful and skilled writing that Catherine Johnson had a great head start in finding a theme for her stage play. Abba songs are mostly sad songs that we all remember as happy songs; they certainly liven up any radio station or karaoke. The backing vocals and musicianship is elaborate, even when they make it simple. That’s the sign of the Beatles.

Amanda Seyfried’s over closing credits version of ‘Thank You for the Music’ is in a league of its own. Each time I see the film I am tempted to tell people not to leave too soon. They’ll miss ‘Waterloo’ but they’ll also miss ‘Thank You for the Music’.

Gross revenue from the movie has topped over $450 million. It might just get to the $500 mark. Now what did I say previously about the academy awards people getting into gear over this movie?

Julie Walters just gets funnier every screening.

Now just where can I get to see it again next week…?

Rarely do I come across a movie where I can’t find a fault. ‘Silence of the Lambs’ was one with Jodie Foster’s ‘The Accused’ another. In musical terms Lionel Bart’s ‘Oliver’ is a perfect mix of songs, dance and action. The plot was great and the characters were spectacularly acted. Now we have another to join that team (almost).

I don’t expect the academy will dare to agree come January, but they should be brave. There are so many academy winning benchmark performances from both cast and crew.

The stage play of Mamma Mia! is almost beyond anything imaginable and yes, the exclamation mark is part of the title and well deserved. Seeing it on Broadway in New York helps, especially when I marvelled at it, we’d flown over 4000 miles for the weekend just to be able to observe from the front rows. It is the stage play to end all stage plays and to transfer it so closely to screen was a risk, but one worth taking on.

Screenplay writer Catherine Johnson has excelled in moving her stage play to the silver screen.

Producer Judy Cramer (and Gary Goetzman) has managed an operation that I quite expected to fail. How could anything be as good as that stage play? I can confirm that she managed it with perfection. The stage play’s director Phyllida Lloyd must have a magical eye. Her direction throughout is everything the movie requires. She always has the right shot, she always has the right movement and she maximizes the dramatic scenery with the dance routines.

I’ve read complaints about the plot, but it works very well; it’s correct for the occasion. The intricacy of the storyboard proves a quality teamwork approach.

The movie lost the one per cent off top score because of the poor blue screen minute or so when Ms Streep drives her jeep. She might move the sterring wheel correctly, but the background doesn’t gel. My goodness, that’s the only fault.

The film really is very funny. I laughed so much (as did the entire audience) it brought me to tears. The film is much funnier than the theatre version which is due to the ability to use close ups and much more individual action. It’s also mainly due to the wonderful charm of Julie Walters (Mrs Overall of Victoria Wood fame and Rita in Educating Rita). She’s a hoot, consistently, throughout the movie. Her mixture of character brings a new light to this side of the movie. Walters OBE and CBE, demonstrates comedy to its maximum degree when she falls into the sea from a small boat; it just has to be seen to be laughed at. Comedy is all about timing and this lady has mastered it.

Then there’s Meryl Streep. She’s been in the best of the acting ranks for many a year. She’s been close by and got the t-shirt. She took on this role and looked as though she had a real fun time. Looking through her extensive portfolio, there’s nothing like Mamma Mia! in there, although she is an experienced singer and theatre actor. To go from Kramer verses Kramer, via Sophie’s Choice and detour to Mamma Mia! is a perfect choice. She sings, she dances and we know she can act. She’s taken Abba’s ‘The Winner Takes It All’ into another classroom. That performance will be studied for years at acting school titled ‘How to steal the scene from James Bond.’

I didn’t think Bond could do it, but he nailed it. Not only was Pierce Brosnans’s acting wonderful, his singing was in tune and accurate. Okay, he might not have a hit single but he has guts and will have earned a lot of respect for his part in Mamma Mia!

Colin Firth has been a sterling Brit actor in many a major movie. We’ve come to anticipate what to expect from his roles. To see his play guitar and sing ‘Our Last Summer’ was a delight.

Amanda Seyfried has a lovely voice. Her ‘I have A Dream’ would stand up in any concert hall. However, it’s her carrying of a lone voice with piano for the closing credits as she takes us through ‘Thank You For The Music’ that sets her apart.

It doesn’t really matter where you stand on the Abba subject. The songs are as strong and fresh today as they were over thirty years ago. The sales figures maintain the strength of their music. They became the Beatlemania of the late seventies and early eighties. They may not have been quite in the Beatles league (but no-one ever comes close to that once in a lifetime experience) but they managed to achieve a perfection of song after song to continue scoring top ten hits all over the world.

Abba managed to perfect the pop song with the catchy melody, the chorus you’ll never forget and mix in rock guitar and ballads. They perfected exactly with the same approach as the movie; a simple approach that’s actually full of complexity. The musicians from the original recordings reformed to give us an outstanding soundtrack performance.

The band has been copied and karaoke sung to the hilt. Their tribute band, Bjorn Again, is even more successful in live concerts. This movie uses quality actors to karaoke their hearts out – and it works.

What sets this movie apart from the not so perfect is the attention to detail. Here the editing of Lesley Walker gains a high value citing. Working with the writer and director, the editing has been set to ease the journey through the preparation and the wedding on the Greek island. It’s never boring, it’s never slow. The film speeds along at a frantic pace that matches the fraught activity of anyone’s wedding day nerves. My only complaint is that I could have sat there for another hour; such was the quality of the activity.

What also positions this movie in isolation, are the so many subtle touches all the way through that it’s hard to see them all in the first pass. Examples include the marriage performing clergyman playing the tubular bells during ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ and the fleeting appearances of our main hosts, Benny and Bjorn; go spot them. The expertise of a brass band playing a wedding march version of ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and Amanda Seyfried humming ‘Fernando’ as she walks along, further present just a glimpse of the writer’s screenplay skills.

If you apply the industry standards of beats, acts, format of what happens when, then Mamma Mia! matches them perfectly. On first viewing I’m sure many will just believe the movie has been thrown together; perhaps a copy of the show. Actually it’s the opposite; the craft shown is exemplary, it takes the stage show through an update that only the silver screen could allow. The differences are significant.

The vital test of a movie is how well you feel you were entertained. That entertainment can be to marvel at the brilliant writing, the outstanding direction, the stunt crew, sadness as well as joy. Mamma Mia! is a feel good movie. No, it’s a feel great movie. If you want to see people singing along in the cinema, dancing and clapping at the end; the audience not leaving before the end of the credits rather than making the rush to the car park to get out first – this is the movie to see.

Whatever you do, don’t leave early. The spectacle of the three fathers singing ‘Waterloo’ is worth the ticket price alone. You’ll also be treated to another epic in full seventies gear.

I enjoyed the movie and was so completely entertained that I’m going again. That’s something I’ve never done before; see the same movie two days running.

Update: I’ve just been to see the movie again, it was even better. I saw even more; the complex touches of miniscule detail came further to the font, the audience cheered along. I might go again next week.

It was easier at the Broadway show; you were still sat in your seat when the spectacular encore arrived after you thought the show was over. I can still see the whole audience rocking in their seats and then dancing in the aisles the day I saw the greatest stage show on earth, ever; (apart from Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, of course.)

Finally the movie has reached my local cinema. I’ve no idea why it hasn’t been before now, because it feels like we’re the last in the world to go and see it. After all, the DVD will be out soon and I nearly had to get that first.

It’s gross revenue (nothing like the meaning of movie profits) is up around $420 million, from a budget of $52 million. After taking out the marketing and the theatre owner’s shares, that’s a tidy profit. It’s always easy to say I told you so (I did). The film was always going to be a runaway success. 108 minutes that surely won’t disappoint.

Even 2.1 million copies of the movie cast’s versions of the songs have been sold on CD or download. I hear Ms Streep’s singing is very good, but a former Bond, is very brave, indeed.

Over 30 million people have seen the stage show around the world; and that’s still rising as Broadway’s Winter Garden theatre in New York takes over $1 million a week.

Those sales are numbers to die for (the dream of every producer/director), but for now you’ll just have to settle for these songs instead:

1. “I Have a Dream” – Sophie
2. “Honey, Honey” – Sophie
3. “Money, Money, Money” – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
4. “Mamma Mia” – Donna
5. “Chiquitita” – Tanya and Rosie
6. “Dancing Queen” – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
7. “Our Last Summer” – Sophie, Sam, Harry, and Bill
8. “Lay All Your Love on Me” – Sky and Sophie
9. “Super Trouper” – Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
10. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” – Cast
11. “The Name of the Game” – Sophie and Bill (deleted scene on DVD)
12. “Voulez-Vous” – Cast
13. “SOS” – Sam and Donna
14. “Does Your Mother Know” – Tanya, Pepper, and the Guys
15. “Slipping Through My Fingers” – Donna and Sophie
16. “The Winner Takes It All” – Donna
17. “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” – Donna, Sam, and Company
18. “When All is Said and Done” – Sam and Company
19. “Take a Chance on Me” – Rosie and Bill
20. “Mamma Mia” (Reprise) – Cast
21. “I Have a Dream” – Sophie
22. “Dancing Queen” – Donna, Tanya and Rosie (end credits)
23. “Waterloo” – Cast (end credits)
24. “Thank You for the Music” – Sophie (end credits)

The show is still running in:

BARCELONA, Spain BERLIN, Germany BROADWAY/NEW YORK, USA GENEVA, Switzerland ISTANBUL, Turkey LAS VEGAS, USA LONDON, UK MALMO, Sweden NAGOYA, Japan TRIESTE, Italy VIENNA, Austria
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
Chicago, IL
17 – 28 September 2008
East Lansing, MI
30 September – 5 October 2008
Milwaukee, WI
7 – 12 October 2008
Peoria, IL
14 – 19 October 2008
Pittsburgh, PA
5 – 9 November 2008
New Haven, CT
2 – 7 December 2008
Rochester, NY
9 – 14 December 2008
Albuquerque, NM
24 – 29 March 2009
Tucson, AZ
21 – 26 April 2009

Thank you , Abba, for the music. Thank you Phyllida Lloyd (director) Judy Craymer (producer) and especially the screenplay writer Catherine Johnson.

Ooops, not forgetting Abba!

All this and we haven’t even heard Pierce Brosnan sing yet. It’s just so tempting to go to Amazon and listen to those 30 seconds slices of each song, but that would spoil the surprise, surely?

You can read the final movie review here

The Mamma Mia stage show is one of life’s great treasured moments; if you haven’t been, please do; you’ll have the time of your life. Around $1.5 billion has been spent by audiences watching the show in theatres around the world to date; it may even run as long as Agatha Christie’s ‘Mousetrap.’

I saw the show on Broadway where the entire audience were up on their feet and dancing in the aisles. If you want to feel good this summer, see the movie.

You don’t have to be an Abba fan, but it helps. Even if you’re not a fanatic, you probably still know all the words to all of those mammoth songs.

If the film turns out to be half as good as the show, it could only be beaten to the movie of the year award by one quite stupendous offering, and I haven’t see one that good yet this year.

You can read the movie review here