A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper wear grey low top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

Mamma Mia!

 

by Marcus Angulo

Sophie welcomes her best friends to Kalokairi.

 

The music of ABBA is cinematic. If you close your eyes while their songs play, you’ll see a story play out. Perhaps it's a memory, perhaps it’s a dream, but a story will play all the same. It then doesn’t take much to imagine that the songs of ABBA could work in a stage musical setting, and even less to imagine them in a movie musical. Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical film based on the 1999 stage show of the same name. The film was released in 2008 and stars an ensemble cast that features Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, and Christine

 

Sophie calls in Sky to help her solve the major problem brewing.

Sophie (Seyfried) is ready to get married to the love of her life, Sky (Cooper), but feels that something is missing. She has spent all her life on the Greek island of Kalokairi, being raised by her single mother, Donna (Streep), but she longs for the knowledge of who her father is. She finds a journal belonging to her mother when she was young, and it recounts the summer she spent with three men just before Sophie was born. She suspects one of these men could be her father, and so decides to write each a letter inviting them to her wedding, pretending to be her mother. Donna has no knowledge of this whatsoever and is instead busy welcoming her two best friends, Rosie (Walters) and Tanya (Baranski), to the island.

 

Sophie has kept Donna at bay because she’s worried she’ll be upset she invited Sam, Bill, and Harry.

 

Soon after, the three men arrive at Kalokairi: Sam Carmichael (Brosnan), Harry Bright (Firth), and Bill Anderson (Skarsgård). They are all very eager to see Donna, but are disappointed when Sophie lets them know that it was she who sent the invites. She does not reveal that she believes one of them is her father, though, and instead hides the men in Donna’s goat house. This doesn’t last long as Donna soon stumbles upon the men and instantly recognizes them as the three loves of her youth. The sends both Donna and the entire wedding into a tailspin, as secrets are revealed, truths are learned, and ABBA music is sung.

 

Sophie and Sky both wear grey chucks in the film, a subtle display that shows their bond.

 

This movie is a classic, and actually improves on the original musical’s story and outline. The cast is star-studded, and everyone brings an incredible energy. Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep, so it’s a given that she’s fantastic, but the real standout of the film is Amanda Seyfried. It’s known now that she’s an incredible actress, but back in 2008, she was only 23 and her most notable role had been Karen in Mean Girls. Seeing her lead this film and bring such life and joy to Sophie. She’s also the best vocal performance in the film by a mile, and her soprano is incredible. This is just such a feel-good film that makes you want to sing and dance like you too are in Greece. It’s no wonder people are clamoring for a third film to be made, even with using the same songs. ABBA is eternal, and so is Mamma Mia!

Best Chucks Scene

 

Sky swings into the bachelorette party wearing his chucks.

 

The best chucks scene in the film comes near the climax of the film. It’s the night before the wedding, and Sophie and Sky are having their bachelorette and bachelor parties. At Sophie’s, Donna and the Dynamos perform “Voulez-Vous” before the party is crashed by Bill, Sam, and Harry. The girls then break into “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” while the party is invaded by Sky’s bachelor party swinging in on ropes. As he lands, we see that he and Sophie are wearing the same pair of grey chucks. These are the chucks Sophie has been wearing the whole film, and the fact that Sky is wearing the same pair shows their unbreakable connection. It also shows how they’re both easy-going, young, and free. Sam, Bill, and Harry all confront Sophie after they each come to the realization that the reason they’re here is cause they are Sophie’s father. The scene ends with Sophie getting overwhelmed by everyone swirling around her, and as the music crescendos, she faints. It’s a great scene that is a testament to how music enhances emotional moments in a musical.

 

Sophie can’t take the stress and passes out.

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