Many critics fault Meryl Streep for being too old for the role of aging hippie, “Donna.”    Poor Pierce Brosnan gets put down for having a voice reflective of being seemingly lost in a gravel pit.  

Many question why it's called "Mama Mia" when it is set in Greece, not Italy?   I suppose in Greece it would be called "Η μητέρα μου."   Question answered. 

Who cares?!   This sweet and simplistic musical set in the Greek isles boasts of majestic blue skies and seas set against magnificent flaming bougainvilleas hanging off of cliffs and white washed crumbling buildings.   In fact, I’m ready to stuff a suitcase, head off for Dulles, and never return after watching this film!

Streep’s character shows real panache in hilarious crinkly facial expressions showing her almost-hidden eagerness to reap, yet again, her lost seeds of youthful passion and desire.   The fact that she’s  bedded three interesting guys over twenty years ago, and her angelic goddess of a daughter, “Sophie,” wants to find out which hunk is her true father, fires the audience into a mood of “Pick any of ‘em…they’re all worthy of an indiscretion!”

Sure, the timeline is skewered and the entire plot line is ridiculous, BUT, in an era of prudes, wimps, violence, and political correctness, I wholeheartedly embrace this film as welcome relief from plain old boredom!

Julie Walters is fantastically loony as usual, and Christine Baranski is hilarious as the other heavily-botoxed-ready-to-find-a Greek hunk-no-matter-his-age oversexed/overhere friend.   One wonders whether they arrived on the island to provide moral or immoral support to their friend?  

Sun, surf, Swedes, Speedos on speed, peasants, Greek gods and goddesses…all part of the fun.

“The Winner Takes All” shows how strong a voice Streep has, along with how her character is forced to reconcile with a past sadly tainted with abuse and rejection.   Sure, I had tears in my eyes…is that a crime?   I personally love stories that can race between silliness and tenderness.   Hollywood has run out of endearing movies, selling its soul for stupidity instead.  

Well, I salute Hollywood for this one engaging musical…and I can’t wait to see it on stage as well.  

Μέχρι την επόμενη φορά,

Pam