Streep is my girlfriend, and has been since the hoaky Holocaust TV mini-series in '78. Take it from a retired divorce lawyer.

Never mind Rendered On The Road To Iraq , Mamma Mia could be one of the year's more subversive films. Under the guise of a sunny, summer season musical, we have the story of a woman who slept with three men in a very short space of time and shortly after (probably nine months) gave birth to a girl. Against the Hollywood norm, she does not appear to have suffered physically or psychologically for this transgression, and her daughter, brought-up in a fatherless household, seems happy and well-adjusted. Worse still, nobody recognises mum for the shameless hussey she is, the greatest rebuke she receives amounts to little more than a raised eye-brow, which conveys envy as much as opprobrium

If the guardians of American decency can arouse enough indignation in their constituencies and congregations to sink a surprisingly spiritual and moral film like The Golden Compass, what will their reaction be when they settle down to what they may have thought was going to be a family friendly musical full of songs from what were perhaps the most wholesome group in pop music this side of The Osmonds, only to find themselves watching a feminist celebration of free-love and female empowerment.

Did I misread it, or was the main role of men in Mamma Mia to provide sex, make-up the numbers at a wedding (one must make certain concessions to tradition) and perhaps provide a comforting bolster (part hot-water bottle, part vibrator)for a woman in her twilight years. They’re also pretty good for putting up shelves.

Sorry to shoot this thesis down, or to dilute it, but Mamma Mia! is based quite closely on a 40-year-old comedy called Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, with Gina Lollobrigida in the role filled by Streep in MM! Therefore, it seems the "subversion" was already accomplished in 1968.

Mamma Mia! is a musical with a book by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It is an example of a jukebox musical, and is notable for popularising the genre. The plot is adapted from the 1968 film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell starring Gina Lollobrigida.

From Wiki:



Though it's not clear that the author accepts that it is an adaptation.

This seems like as neat a moment as any to say that from now on I'll be posting my quick-fire reviews on my own blog, not here:

http://thisislandrod.blogspot.com/

Those of you who care may come read now and then.