The play, Doubt: A Parable, was a great success running for 550 shows and travelling around the world, so it was no surprise when the play was transformed into a movie.

Doubt, the movie, has been adapted for the big screen by John Patrick Shanley, the writer of the original play. It should be not be a revelation that the play that won numerous awards has now become such a hit movie of the highest quality, that all four lead actors were nominated for an Academy award™ as well as the screenplay writer. There’s a fine line between winning and being in the top five. You can’t get a hairline crack between the winners and these five.

This version looks like a play especially during the long scenes which is unusual for a movie. However, it is interjected by marvelous shots from around the school grounds where the movie is set.

Writer John Patrick Shanley even gets to direct the movie which is a rare reward these days for any writer, screenplay or playwright and he does a first-rate job looking like he does this every day of the week.

Actors Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman , Amy Adams and Viola Davies are superb in showing four distinctly different characters moulding together. We didn’t for one moment expect Meryl Streep to jump up and start singing The Winner Takes It All or Mamma Mia such was the quality of the acting that we instantly put aside her other recent success.

It is essential that the makeup department also gets the nod for the wonderful work on Meryl Streep who looks as though she has no makeup at all, befitting a nun at her Catholic school.

At 104 minutes the movie is hardly any longer than the play, the extra few minutes were purely the filling shots as the play was adapted almost 100% to the movie.

This movie tackles some very difficult drastic church related situations and left us with an Agatha Christie whodunnit, did he or didn’t he? Unusually it would appear that the writer was able to keep his own choice of name for the movie as I’m sure that if the marketing people had been in charge, the movie would have been called ‘The Nun That Lies.’

On a budget of just 20 million the film has already reached payback time and following its success with the Academy Award nominations at the Oscars™ it will no doubt be seen by millions more now followed by plenty of DVD purchases, downloads (legal!) and rentals.

It is tough movie to watch, not only the subjects being addressed (did the priest touch the boy? Why doesn’t the mother mind?), but also because it moves along at a pace just above sedate. It’s nice to see a Hollywood movie that makes you think rather than just sit back just taking in the action.

It’s also good to see a movie to set you talking, discussing the content, after it’s finished when you try to work out just what happened and who really did what. The deliberations and arguments could go on for weeks.

It’s taken well over £69million at the box office so far and is still showing. It’s just £40,000 ahead of Titanic with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone a couple of million behind. Mamma Mia! should be the first ever UK movie past the £70 million post during the festive season.

I guess we’re ignoring inflation for the calculations as Titanic was a hit some ten years ago and ticket prices will have increased somewhat since then. No doubt someone will Google the answer and let me know.

Meryl Streep has been selected for two Golden Globe nominations, one for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Mamma Mia! She’s also been nominated as one of five for best actress for her role in Doubt.

The movie (Mamma Mia!) itself has been nominated for the Best motion picture for a musical or comedy award.

Twenty three weeks after it’s UK release, it also been the number one film in at least fifteen countries.

So what about Mamma Mia 2?

At first glance you can see why it’s such a good idea. Most of those that went and saw Mamma Mia! will go and see the next one, out of curiosity at the very least, but when a movie reaches such heights you can’t expect another to stay on that level. So that tells us that we’ll be disappointed with a follow up, but it’ll be a box office success.

‘The best songs have already been used,’ is another argument against number 2. However, the writers managed to unearth some masterpieces that probably weren’t on any Abba greatest hits compilation (until now) such as “When All Is Said and Done,” “Slipping Through My Fingers” and “Our Last Summer.”

Last but not least we must consider the immense talents of the director, producer and the play/screen writer who collaborated to bring as such a great work of art. Who’s to say they can’t just do it again? I’ll be there.

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.