Director: Phyllida Lloyd, PG, 108min

Stars: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan

On general release

The successful stage musical brings its undemanding formula of sun, sea and undetermined paternity to the big screen. And it’s hard to imagine how this giddy, goofy singalong to Abba’s most infectious hits could fail to charm its cinema audience. It has the atmosphere of a boisterous hen night, but without all the crying, vomiting and self-loathing. The thing that people probably won’t notice, or indeed care about, is that, underneath the wall-to-wall carpeting of power pop, the top-heavy casting and the witless exuberance of the story, this is a decidedly average film.

To its credit, Mamma Mia! has a formidable cast. In the lead is Streep as the bohemian mother of the bride, whose escapades during her own personal summer of love 20 years previously leave the position of father of the bride with three potential candidates. The possible dads are played, with varying degrees of good-natured embarrassment, by Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård and Brosnan. The film’s broadest comedy moments come courtesy of Julie Walters, as one of Streep’s old friends. Meanwhile, the bride, Sophie, is brought to life by Seyfried, who has a lovely singing voice but yaps her lines like an overexcited chihuahua puppy.

Perhaps the problem is that if you take away the cement of the songs, the insubstantial nature of the story becomes glaringly obvious. Dementedly enthusiastic, ear-bleedingly shrill performances are one way of distracting from the narrative shortcomings. The director Lloyd has a vast amount of experience in theatre – she staged the original Mamma Mia! – but her approach to cinema is uninspired, resorting to cliché rather than the visual flair the material requires.

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