'....my my how can I resist him?'
Went to see Mamma Mia yesterday. May I say to one and all that this is not the most intellectual film ever made, subtle it ain't, but oh my goodness me, if you are feeling fed up and down in the dumps then expend a tenner for a seat and some popcorn, get your vocal chords oiled and off you go. Simply wonderfully cheesy, all dancing, all singing, two hours of sheer fun.
The cast list in this film must have had the director weeping with sheer delight. Meryl Streep, stunning actress, Oscar winner, Hollywood royalty, singing (very well indeed, originally trained as a singer), dancing with a terrific figure and get up and go at the advanced age (well, by movie standards) of 59. Pierce Brosnan, seemingly getting better and better looking and more sexy as he gets older, bit of stubble now, bit of grey in the hair, no longer Mr Super Smooth James Bond, bit of a paunch, but still incredibly gorgeous. Totally unfair that men like him, and George Clooney, just seem to improve with age. There should be a law against it.
So I thought 'Mummy buy me that please' and then up pops Colin Firth with his sweet smile and deprecating humour and I thought, oh dear decisions decisions. James Bond or Mr Darcy? What to do what to do? Well the answer is just to sit back and totally wallow (I have to say that the third male lead whose name totally escapes me seems to have zero charisma and I had never heard of him, but up against these two poor sod did not stand a chance).
Cinema was packed with a totally female audience, nary a male in sight, very wise. We all sang along and when Dancing Queen came on seats were banging, hands clapping, we all joined it. Meryl was superb, Julie Walters incredibly funny, a whole Greek chorus of men and women turning up to back the singers no matter where they were, simply beautiful scenery with turquoise coloured sea and really, whole thing was quite gloriously over the top and super.
You will emerge into the daylight, blinking and beaming and smiling and finding that for the next two days you burst into Abba's greatest hits at the drop of a hat. My colleagues at work today have had to put up with Super Trouper at frequent intervals, got into a lift to come home and found myself in full Take a Chance on me mode when the lift stopped and several people got in and without a blink of an eye all joined in. Yes, they too had been to see the movie over the weekend.
This film makes everyone happy.
And I have to tell you now, the sight of Pierce and Colin in full spandex and silver boots singing Waterloo as the credits roll is worth the price of admission alone.
Be still my beating heart....