Oh Mamma Mia, It's "Mamma Mia!"

David Edelstein Catches The ABBA Musical, And Lives To Tell The Tale

(CBS)  The ABBA song "SOS," from the just-opened movie "Mamma Mia!," turns out to be appropriate, as our critic David Edelstein is in distress …

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Like many people - billions, it seems - I've always had a soft spot for the songs of the Swedish group ABBA, even though they're sort of like Supremes numbers if the composer and lyricist were lobotomized and the singers learned English phonetically.

They're hits because it takes too much effort to get them out of your head!

No, that's unfair. At their best, in "Take a Chance on Me" and "Dancing Queen," they're ecstatically mindless - transcendental pop.

But hearing ABBA onscreen in a film directed by someone who doesn't know how to direct a film, sung by non-singers and danced by non-dancers, and featuring Meryl Streep trying to look as if she's just having the best time, is like being trapped in a sensory deprivation tank … except the radio is blasting and you can't-make-it-stop.

The movie is set in what travel guides call a "sun-drenched" Greek island, where Streep is a single mom with a golden halo and does so much fake laughing she must have had hits of nitrous oxide between takes.

Golden girl Amanda Seyfried plays her 20-year-old daughter, who's about to get married and wants to know which of the three men her mom had sex with the summer before she was born is her dad. They are Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgaard and Pierce Brosnan, whose voice in song is the closest a human has come to a water buffalo.

None of those ABBA hits have anything to do with the plot: They're generic, shoehorned in, and when the characters sing they don't reveal more of themselves. They become more simple-minded.

Which shouldn't matter, right? It didn't on stage, where you could surrender to the singing and dancing (except the dancing here is jaw-droppingly lame; it's all skipping along cliff paths waving arms).

Amanda Seyfried is a radiant object and can sing. And Streep gives herself to the songs. I saw her do stage musicals in her twenties; she has a good voice and knows how to put it over.

But numbers as terrible as "The Winner Takes It All" require a certain lack of wit that this great actress, try as she might, can't muster.

See "Mamma Mia!" if you're prepared to work very hard to achieve a state of anti-enlightenment.

[iowegian3]

As my high school students would say, Mr. Edelstein should take a chill pill.

David Edelstein''s jaded opinion on Mama Mia reflects a lot of problems I caution my journalism students to avoid. Criticism to improve the craft and educate the viewer is important, but trouncing a project without understanding its true purpose will alienate those reading the review and disagreeing.

I had two married couples, frequent theater-goers, call me up on Saturday to urge me to see Mama Mia. Both the women and men thought it was one of the most FUN and enjoyable musicals they''ve seen on screen in a number of years.

On Sunday, the audience I was part of seemed to agree by the frequent laughter during the film and long applause at the end of it. The relationships among the adult women was wonderful and we need more films that show that.

Yes, Mama Mia wasn''t perfect, but it was perfectly good for a great two hours of escape. Panning it as you did was inappropriate.

[picklepirkle]

Mr. Edelstein, I don''t usually listen to critics because they are pompous, narrow minded morons. You proved me right. I teach high school drama and I tell my students that good entertainment, whether stage or film, connects with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with me. I sat through the credits because I didn''t want it to end. I felt that movie in my soul. And you know what else? I was "enlightened". Of course, you''d have to understand the movie to see how.

THAT is what good entertainment does. Shame on you Mr. Edelstein, pretending to be a film critic. YOu don''t have a clue as to what good film is. Quit while you can still get a job as a Walmart greeter.

[picklepirkle]

Mr. Edelstein, I don''t usually listen to critics because they are pompous, narrow minded morons. You proved me right. I teach high school drama and I tell my students that good entertainment, whether stage or film, connects with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with me. I sat through the credits because I didn''t want it to end. I felt that movie in my soul. And you know what else? I was "enlightened". Of course, you''d have to understand the movie to see how.

THAT is what good entertainment does. Shame on you Mr. Edelstein, pretending to be a film critic. YOu don''t have a clue as to what good film is. Quit while you can still get a job as a Walmart greeter.

[picklepirkle]

Mr. Edelstein, I don''t usually listen to critics because they are pompous, narrow minded morons. You proved me right. I teach high school drama and I tell my students that good entertainment, whether stage or film, connects with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with their audience. Mamma Mia connected with me. I sat through the credits because I didn''t want it to end. I felt that movie in my soul.

THAT is what good entertainment does. Shame on you Mr. Edelstein, pretending to be a film critic. YOu don''t have a clue as to what good film is. Quit while you can still get a job as a Walmart greeter.

[picklepirkle]

David Edelstein, I usually don''t listen to critics because they''re narrow minded pompous morons, and you proved me right.

I''m a theater teacher and I love entertainment. I teach my students to connect to the audience. Mamma Mia! connected with the audience. It connected with me. I left the theater exhilarated. I sat through the credits because I didn''t want it to end.

Your review is so far off base, I can''t believe you actually get paid to write this fiction.

[picklepirkle]

David Edelstein, I usually don''t listen to critics because they''re narrow minded pompous morons, and you proved me right.

I''m a theater teacher and I love entertainment. I teach my students to connect to the audience. Mamma Mia! connected with the audience. It connected with me. I left the theater exhilarated. I sat through the credits because I didn''t want it to end.

Your review is so far off base, I can''t believe you actually get paid to write this fiction.

[bkorchin]

my name is bradley korchin and I live in Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada.I have a sunday morning routine,no matter how late I get home.I make my coffee,read my newspaper,and watch CBS SUNDAY MORNING...for 25 years...and I''m ONLY 40.I just want to say thank-you.It''s the best program on television.
I look forward to seeing you on the radio.

[lesneb]

Lighten up Mr Edelstein! You completely missed the point of this film. It is not meant to be a serious movie, but an exuberant romp! Meryl Streep never had so much fun. You looked pained as you gave your review. Perhaps you could use a vacation.

[wentodom]

This is the most off-the-mark review I have read in a long time. Meryl Streep didn''t seem to be forcing anything. She genuinely seemed to be having a blast. The movie had me smiling from start to finish. Not everyone had an amazing voice, but that''s not the point of this type of film. The performances were fun, energetic, real and most of all enjoyable to the point of wanting to get up and sing along. Everyone in the theatre that I heard after -- young, old, man, woman, gay, straight -- seemed to really love this movie. ABBA is one of the most successful groups in the history of pop music and to dismiss their songs as "mindless" or "lobotomized" is an insult to all YOUR readers who loved them. Tact and relevant comments go a long way in keeping people reading your reviews AND your paper, Mr. Edelstein.

[teachtwo-2009]

I LOVE CBS Sunday Morning. I have gotten more people to watch. I don''t make comments too often but today I am. I am so glad I saw the movie Mama Mia before I saw your review.

It was 95 degrees and HOT. My adult daughter and I went to the movies to get out of the heat and leave reality for just a few hours. We started to smile the minute the movie began. The scenery was breath taking and very cooling. Then the show started. For the next two hours the whole theater sang, danced in their seat, laughed, cried, and cheered at the end.

My daughter, (a film major), and I LOVED the movie. I went back in time to high school with the songs. It was so much fun we bought the CD and sang all the way home! I don''t leave a movie theater very often smiling!

Mama Mia was pure entertainment and escape for me. Three cheers for a FUN movie. It was done well and I got my money''s worth out my ticket.

From now on I will think twice when your critic gives his opinion. We obviously do not subscribe to the same point of view.