Tagline: Let the Joy Wash Over You
Meryl Streep plays the rebellious single mother of a bride-to-be who never met her father. The daughter invites three likely paternal candidates to her wedding, and the ensuing conflict triggers the performance of 22 Abba hits including “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me” and “The Winner Takes It All.” Based on the crowd-pleasing musical that has played in 130 cities around the world and has grossed $1.6 billion since its 1999 opening.
An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna (Meryl Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited daughter she’s raised alone. For Sophie’s wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends — practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya (Christine Baranski) — from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.
On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna’s past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.
Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA’s songs from “Dancing Queen” and “S.O.S.” to “Money, Money, Money” and “Take a Chance on Me,” Mamma Mia! is a celebration of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found.
Foreword by Judy Craymer: Let the Joy Wash Over You
“I was recently watching the wonderful Broadway company of Mamma Mia! once again bring a delirious audience to a standing ovation at the Winter Garden Theatre, and I recalled a comment in the New York Post review of the New York premiere in 2001 that everyone associated with Mamma Mia! has made into their comic mantra: `Let the joy wash over you.’
Ten years ago, when I was scrambling with author Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd in the final stages of creating a new stage musical based on the songs of ABBA, it would never have occurred to me that Mamma Mia! would be a major worldwide summer movie release blessed with a cast led by Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. I now know what it feels like to go through the full joy rinse and dry cycle!
Much has been said and written about the worldwide success of Mamma Mia! (and not just by the show’s publicists!) since the show opened almost a decade ago in London. The statistics that bring me a sense of unbridled pride and deep humility surround the notion that Mamma Mia! has become a large, extended family that numbers in the hundreds of thousands, soon to be millions.
In Mamma Mia!, Sophie wants to find her father on her wedding day. Sophie’s life and family change in ways she could never have imagined in the 24 hours leading up to the ceremony. The Mamma Mia! journey is that of an extended family that keeps growing and growing in ways I could never have dreamed of.
Film Synopsis and Musical Numbers
It is 1999 on the enchanting Greek island of Kalokairi. Our romantic adventure begins at the remote Mediterranean hotel Villa Donna, run by Donna (Meryl Streep), daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Sophie’s fiancé Sky (Dominic Cooper).
Just in time for her upcoming marriage, Sophie nervously posts three wedding invitations (“I Have a Dream”) to three different men, any of whom she believes may be her father. From three cities across the globe, three men set off to return to the island-and the woman-that had enchanted each of them 20 years earlier.
Back on that island, Donna is rousing her staff for the frenetic day ahead as Sophie’s bridesmaids arrive and she shares with her best mates a scandalous secret: Sophie has found her mother’s diary and learned she has three possible dads-businessman Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), adventurer Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård) and banker Harry Bright (Colin Firth). Without telling her mum, she has invited all three to her wedding (“Honey, Honey”), believing that after she spends time with them, she will at last know who her real father is.
Meanwhile, back on the Greek mainland, Sam, Bill and Harry-strangers until today-have met at the harbour. Fortuitously, Sam and Harry have missed the ferry to Kalokairi, and Bill offers them a lift on his yacht to reconnect with the woman who broke all their hearts 20 years ago.
Back on Kalokairi, Donna is ecstatic to reunite with old friends and former “Donna and The Dynamos” band mates, wisecracker Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy multiple divorcée Tanya (Christine Baranski), and reveals her mystification at her daughter’s desire for a traditional wedding-or any wedding at all.
At the Villa, Sophie introduces Tanya and Rosie to true love Sky, and tells them about their idea of designing a Web site to attract tourists to the island. Donna explains her precarious finances (“Money, Money, Money”) to her girlfriends as she takes them on a tour of the Villa. Hounded by her creditors, Donna dreams of a “rich man’s world,” sunbathing on a yacht and being deliciously pampered. She is brought back to reality as an ominous crack appears in the courtyard.
The three men arrive, and Sophie smuggles them to their quarters and sheepishly explains that she, not her mother, sent the invitations. She begs the men to hide so Donna will have a fantastic surprise at the wedding: seeing the old friends of whom she “so often” favourably speaks. They overhear Donna working in the storeroom below-preparing to fix the crack-and the men swear to Sophie they will not reveal her secret. Sophie leaves by the window…just in the nick of time, as Donna peeps through the trapdoor.
She is dumbfounded to find herself face-to-face with the three former lovers she could never forget (“Mamma Mia”), while the men clumsily make up excuses for their presence. Donna is adamant; they simply cannot stay. Visibly shaken, she onfides in Tanya and Rosie (“Chiquitita”) a secret she has kept from everyone: she is uncertain which of the three men is actually Sophie’s father. No matter, as Tanya and Rosie rally her spirits by getting Donna to join in-with the female staff and islanders accompanying-a musical number intended to make her forget her woes. Donna and The Dynamos reclaim their glory days and champion the women of the island in a call to liberation (“Dancing Queen”).
Sophie finds the men aboard Bill’s yacht, and they take a trip around the gorgeous island (“Our Last Summer”) and tell her stories of Donna as a carefree girl. Upon their return, Sophie musters up the courage to speak with Sky about her ploy, but loses her nerve. Sky and Sophie sing passionately to each other (“Lay All Your Love on Me”), but are interrupted by the stag party that has descended upon Sky to kidnap him for his last night of freedom.
At Sophie’s hen party, Donna, Tanya and Rosie perform in a surprise one-night-only event as Donna and The Dynamos (“Super Trouper”). Sophie is delighted to see her mum rock out, but becomes nervous when the festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Sam, Bill and Harry. She decides to get each of her three prospective dads alone to talk.
The young bride uses the confusion of her amorous girlfriends’ dancing with the men (“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight]”) to speak with Sam about his love for Donna. Next, she’s on to Harry about his desire, if any, for children. Finally, Bill reveals that the old woman who gave Donna the money to invest in her villa was his Great Aunt Sofia, and Sophie guesses she must be her namesake. That’s it! Bill must be her father! Sophie asks him to give her away and to keep their secret from Donna until the wedding.
Over the moon, Sophie returns to the party. But her happiness is short-lived as Sam and Harry each tell her they must be her dad and will give her away (“Voulez-Vous”). A shocked Sophie can’t tell them the truth and, overwhelmed by the consequences of her action, faints on the dance floor.
In the morning, Rosie and Tanya reassure a frantic Donna they will take care of the men. Donna confronts Sophie in the courtyard, mistakenly believing Sophie wants the wedding stopped. Sophie angrily says that all she wants is to avoid her mother’s mistakes and storms off. An upset Donna is accosted by Sam, full of fatherly concern at Sophie getting married so young. Donna dresses him down, and both realize they still have feelings for each other (“SOS”).
Meanwhile, on Bill’s boat, Bill and Harry are about to confide in each other, but are interrupted by Rosie-who is startled to find Bill making breakfast in the buff! Similarly, pulses are racing down on the sandy beaches as Tanya and young Pepper continue their flirtations from the previous night (“Does Your Mother Know”).
With her plans falling apart and wedding in jeopardy, Sophie knows it is time to come clean to Sky and ask for his help. He reacts angrily to his fiancée’s deception and Sophie must turn to her mother for support.
As Donna helps her daughter dress for their wedding, the rift is quickly healed and Donna reminisces about Sophie’s childhood and how quickly she’s grown (“Slipping Through My Fingers”). Then and there, Sophie decides the only parent she’s ever known is the only one who should give her away. As the staff and bridesmaids accompany Donna and Sophie to the chapel, Sam lies in nervous wait. Donna waves the wedding party on, and he begs Donna to talk. She cuts him short, however, revealing the deep pain she felt over losing him (“The Winner Takes It All”).
After the ceremony begins, Donna can hold her tongue no more. She confesses to Sophie that her father is present…but he could be Sam, Bill or Harry. Sophie, in a shocker of her own, admits she invited them. The three men concur that they would be quite happy to be one-third of a father for such a girl. The surprises keep coming when Sophie tells Sky they should postpone their wedding and travel the world, as they have always wanted. It appears that preparations have been in vain until Sam steps in with the final curveball: he proposes to Donna.
She accepts (“I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”)!
At the wedding reception, Sam sings a song to Donna, who he has loved for 21 years (“When All is Said and Done” [in the film only, not the musical]), which prompts Rosie to make a coy play for Bill (“Take a Chance on Me”). All the couples present proclaim their love and, magically, water from Aphrodite’s fountain of love bursts through the crack in the courtyard at Villa Donna.
Our story concludes as Sophie and Sky bid farewell to the island and sail away to a new life together (“I Have a Dream”), one full of hope and promise.
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Lilley, Ricardo Montez, Rachel McDowall, Heather Emmanuel
Screenplay by: Catherine Johnson
Production Design by: Maria Djurkovic
Cinematography by: Haris Zambarloukos
Film Editing by: Lesley Walker
Costume Design by: Anna Roth
Set Decoration by: Barbara Herman-Skelding
Art Direction by: Dean Clegg, Rebecca Holmes
Music by: Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulveaus
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sex-related comments.
Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: July 18, 2008
Visits: 56
