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If it weren't for Meryl Streep, this film called Mamma Mia! -- based on the hugely successful ABBA-inspired musical of the same name -- would be deservedly savaged and panned mercilessly.
If it weren't for Meryl Streep, you could probably rename the film 'Diarrhea' because except for her it's pretty much ....
But fortunately for director Phyllida Lloyd, Streep is perhaps the lone star in this musical comedy (with wafer-thin dramatic subplots). Streep realizes and grasps the rare opportunity to have fun. She throws caution to the wind onscreen, instead of being afraid to make a fool of herself.
And that is often the film's saving grace.
Streep's wild and carefree character Donna prepares for the wedding of her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) to Sky (Dominic Cooper), but is unaware of Sophie's plan. That is, Sophie has been snooping through her mother's journal and finds the names of three men Donna dated years ago. Believing one of them must be her father, she invites all three to the wedding.
From there Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), Harry Bright (Colin Firth) and Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan) arrive at Donna's slowly decaying inn. Hilarity and initial high energy ensues.
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A great example of this is Streep performing Money, Money, Money as she basically spoofs Titanic with her arms outstretched on a ship's bow and imagines the high life.
"C'mon let's go have fun," she says, and it appears she took that line to heart.
Just as much gung-ho for that devil-may-care attitude are Donna's gal pals Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski), who often let their hair down early on during their rendition of Dancing Queen with Streep hopping on a bed like an excited 11-year-old girl while her friends sing into hair dryers and vacuum tubes.
However, the closing of the same number showing Donna and dozens of people dancing merrily through the countryside brings to mind the video for the song The Safety Dance by '80s pop group Men Without Hats.
It nonetheless earned an ovation from the audience at a screening this week.
As well, a few scenes seem to be within nanoseconds of being placed on a gag reel.
But Streep, Waters and Baranski basically ad-lib and keep just enough composure to pull through.
Yet for all of the initial promise, spontaneity and general feel-good tone, some of the characters and other cast members sadly don't share the same joie de vive that Streep possesses in spades.
Or if they did, they had a very odd way of showing it.
Brosnan's performance is quite stiff despite trying his hand at a few songs, such as S.O.S. -- in which he slowly drowns.
This is especially true when Streep gives her all during the home stretch, with The Winner Takes It All as Brosnan has a pained expression that basically screams -- "Am I, the former Bond and Remington Steele, really here doing this?"
While most of the musical portions are quirky, campy and over-the-top, fans of the Swedish band's music and the musical (not to mention Muriel's Wedding or The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert) would lap up this film quickly, despite the noticeable lulls in the second half.
Perhaps Streep's approach to her character and this film comes through best when she utters the line, "Screw 'em if they can't take a joke."
It's too bad some of her other cast mates didn't have that same mindset.
(This film is rated PG)