Fridae

What a delicious, delightful musical! With a lively performance by Meryl Streep, a soundtrack by ABBA and a major gay character (we can't say who), Mamma Mia! is the must-see of the month.

Now here's the funny thing about Mamma Mia! The Movie. It begins rather unpromisingly on a drab Greek island filled with men and women in drab clothing. A young woman (Amanda Seyfried) sends out three letters to three different strangers (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard), asking them all to attend her upcoming wedding on the island.

One of the strangers is her father, but she does not know which because her mother (Meryl Streep) never told her. When all the men arrive at the island at the same time, Meryl goes into a fit as she herself doesn't know which one fathered her daughter. Presumably, she made love to all of them around the same time.

The story, as you can see, is somewhat tacky. But the music, the dancing and the acting are so full of warmth and joy that you quickly forget how cheesy the whole story is. Indeed, you quickly give in to the enormous charms of the musical, especially when it's Meryl singing some of ABBA's most unforgettable classics like Waterloo and Super Trouper.

Fresh-faced Amanda Seyfried is especially lovely, and the supporting cast of Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as Meryl's best friends is simply terrific. Oh, and did we already mention that one of the major characters is gay? Well, it's worth mentioning again since his parts are not cut and the film is only rated PG.

Get out your dancing shoes and go watch this!