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"MAMMA MIA!"
(2008) (Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Minor Moderate Minor None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Heavy Minor None Mild Mild
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Heavy Minor Mild Heavy None


QUICK TAKE:
Musical: A woman must contend with her daughter inviting three men to her own wedding, one of which is the father the girl has never known.
PLOT:
Donna Sheridan (MERYL STREEP) is the former lead singer of Donna and the Dynamos turned manager of a rundown villa situated on a picturesque Greek isle and runs the place with the help of her 20-year-old daughter, Sophie (AMANDA SEYFRIED). With the latter about to tie the knot with the handsome Sky (DOMINIC COOPER), Donna is busily preparing the place for the pending nuptials, and is happy when her best friends and former backup singers, Rosie (JULIE WALTERS) and Tanya (CHRISTINE BARANSKI), arrive for the festivities.

They're not the only guests from Donna's past, however, as Sophie has gone through her mom's old diary in search of clues about her father's identity. Chronologically narrowing it down to three men, she invites Sam Carmichael (PIERCE BROSNAN), Harry Bright (COLIN FIRTH) and Bill Anderson (STELLAN SKARSGÅRD) to her wedding in hopes that she'll instantly recognize the one who's her biological dad.

Unfortunately, she can't, and Donna's certainly not pleased to see an unlikely reunion of her past lovers who've never met until this moment. From that point on, Donna must deal with that as Sophie tries to pick out her father, with the romantic tale set to the songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of the theatrical production, movie musicals in general, anyone in the cast, and/or the pop group ABBA, they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For some sex-related comments.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • MERYL STREEP plays a former singer turned owner of a rundown Greek isle villa who's happy but sad that her daughter is about to marry Sky. She gets a big surprise, however, when three of her former lovers show up for the wedding, all of whom bedded her one summer twenty years ago, resulting in Sophie. Not wanting to relive her past and uncertain of which is the father, she tries to get rid of the men, but must contend with their presence and the conflicting emotions that creates. She drinks a bit.
  • PIERCE BROSNAN plays her former lover turned successful businessman who helped her build the villa years ago, but has remained absent for two decades following her request. However, he shows up due to Sophie's invitation and must deal with the possibility that he's her father as well as resurrected feelings toward Donna.
  • COLIN FIRTH plays another man who was her lover that summer 20 years earlier, and likewise must deal with the possible fatherhood issue. An uptight banker, he tries to play it loose, and briefly drinks.
  • STELLAN SKARSGÅRD plays the more adventurous of the three possible fathers, and he enjoys being back on the isle with Donna.
  • JULIE WALTERS and CHRISTINE BARANSKI play Donna's former backup singers and current friends who arrive for the wedding and try to help her get through the predicament of her three former lovers unexpectedly showing up. They're wild and unreserved, with thrice-divorced Tanya getting involved with a much younger bartender, and they drink some.
  • AMANDA SEYFRIED plays Donna's 20-year-old daughter who's about to marry Sky, but doesn't feel complete without knowing who her father is, and thus invites the three possible men from her mom's past (but doesn't tell her she's done so).
  • DOMINIC COOPER plays her fiancé who thinks that's a bad idea and briefly holds unlit cigars.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this musical that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of a handful of expletives, while some religious and colorful phrases are also uttered. Various instances of non-explicit, but sexually related dialogue are present, including talk of a woman having three lovers one summer in the past that lead to her being pregnant. Some sexually related gestures occur, while cleavage, some scantly clad women (mostly in bathing suits), and a man's bare butt cheeks are briefly seen. A male character admits that he's gay.

    Characters drink in various scenes (one appears hung-over the following morning), and a joking, visual drug reference is briefly made, while a character twice holds an unlit cigar. Some kids may be enticed to imitate some of the behavior that's on display, while some bad attitudes and tense family material is present.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

    For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of camera movement in the film (sometimes fairly bouncy, while there's also some quick pans and spin-around shots, etc.).


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Rosie opens a beer bottle with her teeth.
  • Sophie jokes that Sky's idea of getting hitched is a 3-minute wedding washed down with a bottle of beer.
  • During a musical number, Donna imagines herself and others with champagne.
  • About some champagne, Rosie makes some sort of comment about donkey testicles.
  • Donna, Rosie and Tanya have champagne.
  • A bartender hands a drink to Tanya. Later, Tanya makes Donna take a drink from that, and Donna then takes that glass and has more.
  • During a musical number when the word "high" is part of a lyric, Tanya holds something like a joint.
  • Sam, Harry, Bill and Sophie hold unknown beverages but make a toast with them.
  • Various women drink at a bachelorette party.
  • Donna, Tanya and Rosie carry glasses of champagne.
  • Sophie tells Sam to wait to talk to Donna until she has a few more drinks in her.
  • Harry has a drink.
  • Tanya appears to be hung-over the morning after a party.
  • A bartender makes Tanya a drink, and miscellaneous people also have drinks.
  • There's wine and/or champagne on tables at a wedding reception.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • We see a slightly bloody cut on Sophie's leg during a musical number where Donna tends to it.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Sophie reads to her friends from her mom's diary from 20 years ago about summer romance that led to Sophie's birth.
  • Sophie has not told Donna or Sky (at least initially for him) of her inviting the three men (one of which might be her biological dad) to her wedding.
  • Donna isn't happy to see the three lovers from her past and initially tries to make them leave the island.
  • We hear that Sam was engaged to someone else when he had sex with Donna.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • During a light musical number, Bill and Rosie crawl along a rooftop, with her then slipping and sliding down the roof. She dangles from the edge and falls, but Bill catches her (all played lightly, with no real suspense).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "You're knocked up?" "Are you getting any?" "I was a stupid, reckless slut," "We're gonna rock this place," "Oh...my...God," "Bugger," "Bollocks," "You look like an old hippy," "Backup girls my ass," "The earth moved" (said about a brief, small earthquake), "You're a little minx," "You shady lady," "It's very Greek," "Screw 'em if they can't take a joke," "You old bat," "Frickin,'" "It's crap," "Sodding circus" and "Are you nuts?"
  • The film might inspire some kids to suddenly break into song (as occurs in the film's musical numbers).
  • Bill uses a rope to swing down onto his sailboat.
  • We briefly see the bare midriffs of Sophie's friends as they dance and spin about.
  • Rosie opens a beer bottle with her teeth.
  • Rosie playfully howls like a wolf.
  • During a musical number, Tanya places something between her legs at her crotch area to simulate a penis.
  • While wearing a bra over her top (as a joke), Rosie then lifts that bra as if flashing someone.
  • Rosie slides down a stairwell banister backwards.
  • Sam, Harry, Bill and Sophie all jump off a short cliff into a body of water below them.
  • We see small tattoos on Bill's knees, and then something similar on his bare butt cheeks later in the film.
  • Tanya adjusts her clothed breasts and then her clothed crotch as part of a musical number.
  • During a light musical number, Bill and Rosie crawl along a rooftop, with her then slipping and sliding down the roof. She dangles from the edge and falls, but Bill catches her (all played lightly, with no real suspense).
  • Donna, Tanya and Rosie all shake their clothed butts toward the camera during a musical number.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • Tanya pulls back a blanket covering a woman's basket to be shocked by the sight of a dead fish with very sharp teeth (played for laughs, but it might startle some viewers as it does her).
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Sophie and her friends sing a song about a man being a love machine and then exaggerate the last word of the line "When you do your thing."
  • A song has a lyric about being a tease and turning them on.
  • In a song, Sam sings that he and Donna are "not too old for sex."
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 1 slang term for sex ("getting any"), 1 ass, 1 bollocks, 1 bugger, 1 crap, 12 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Oh God," 3 of "God" and 1 use of "My God."
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • When Sophie tells her best friends she has a secret, they touch her clothed belly and ask if she's "knocked up" (she isn't, and is referring to having read through her mom's diary for clues about her father's identity).
  • Sophie reads to her friends from that diary from 20 years ago about the summer romance that led to Sophie's birth. She reads one entry about kissing and "dot-dot-dot" (meaning "..."), saying that's what they called it in the old days (referring to sex). The girls then sing a song about a man being a love machine and then exaggerate the last word of the line "When you do your thing." Sophie then reads another entry about another man that says "One thing lead to another and dot-dot-dot," which also holds true for the entry about a third man. Later, when Donna tells the girls she used to have fun, one teasingly replies, "I know" (referring to the diary).
  • Tanya shows some cleavage.
  • Sophie shows varying amounts of cleavage (sometimes a lot) in various outfits throughout the film, including a one-piece bathing suit that also shows a bit of the lower part of her bare butt cheeks.
  • Sophie and Sky briefly but passionately kiss.
  • During a musical number, Tanya holds a small door handle that dangles from her hand, with Donna tapping that while singing "I can't get him off my mind" (a visual penis metaphor). Donna also shows varying amounts of cleavage during this.
  • About a brief and small earthquake, Donna jokes that the "earth moved" (a double entendre).
  • Rosie holds up a pair of skimpy panties, asking Donna if one wears them or flosses with them. Tanya then chimes in, asking if they're edible.
  • About some champagne, Rosie makes some sort of comment about donkey testicles.
  • Tanya asks Donna if she's "getting any" (having sex). Donna then playfully runs the power drill she's holding, and a person jokingly comments "Down boy," while Rosie says a sex life would require more plumbing (or something like that).
  • We see Tanya in just a towel (nothing explicit is seen).
  • During a song, Donna sings "There's a fire in my soul," but before getting to the last word, her hands run by her clothed crotch (this occurs twice). She then ends up falling down from the roof onto an air mattress in a room before, landing in front of the three men with her clothed legs spread and up in the air. That prompts Sam to state she always knew how to make an entrance.
  • Tanya shows some cleavage.
  • About her past and sleeping with Sam, Harry and Bill in the same summer, Donna says she was a stupid and reckless "slut."
  • During a musical number, Tanya places something between her legs at her crotch area to simulate a penis.
  • While wearing a bra over her top (as a joke), Rosie then lifts that bra as if flashing someone.
  • A song has a lyric about being a tease and turning them on.
  • We see miscellaneous cleavage.
  • We see Bill shirtless on his sailboat, while Sam has his shirt open. We later see them and Harry all shirtless.
  • There are several references to Harry's nickname in the past being "head-banger" (possibly meant sexually, but also possibly referring to being in a rock band).
  • During a musical number at a beach, we see Sky shirtless and Sophie in her one-piece bathing suit that shows cleavage, including a lot when she does a sultry crawl toward him on all fours. He then briefly ends up on top of her in the sand, kissing her, but is then pulled off by other men (many shirtless) who then participate in a big dance number.
  • We see women in various stage of scanty attire (bikini tops, etc.) at a bachelorette party. Many of them then fawn over Bill and Harry at that party.
  • About one of the men being Sophie's father, Donna makes some sort of comment about not being muzzled (or something sounding like that) by an ejaculation.
  • After saying she had planned on taking the three men fishing and noting Tanya's negative response, Rosie asks what she suggests they do with three men. Tanya then suggestively replies, "That takes me back" (presumably meaning sexually).
  • Donna shows some cleavage.
  • We see miscellaneous cleavage as well as some midriff-revealing outfits.
  • There's another comment about donkey testicles.
  • We see Bill in just a towel. When he walks away from the camera, we see his bare butt cheeks (as does Rosie).
  • A young, shirtless bartender playfully tells Tanya they should pick up where they left off the night before, but she lies and says nothing happened then.
  • We see miscellaneous young women in bikini tops, as well as miscellaneous shirtless guys.
  • Tanya adjusts her clothed breasts and then her clothed crotch as part of a musical number.
  • We see Sophie in a towel.
  • Donna tells Sophie that when she (Donna) got pregnant, her mom told her not to come back, and Donna says she wouldn't have had it any other way.
  • Interrupting her own wedding ceremony, Sophie tells her mom that she doesn't care that she (Donna) slept with hundreds of men. After saying something else, Donna clarifies to those attending the wedding that she didn't sleep with that many. Sophie then talks to Sam, commenting on if he hadn't popped (or pumped) her mom and then married someone else.
  • SPOILER ALERT: Harry tells Donna that she was the first girl he ever loved, and then adds that she was the last (as he looks longingly and lovingly at another man at the wedding). Moments later, there's another visual reference that confirms he is gay.
  • Sam and Donna passionately kiss.
  • In a song, Sam sings that he and Donna are "not too old for sex."
  • Various women and men end up in wet and sometimes clingy clothes as water erupts from the ground, but nothing explicit is seen.
  • Sam is shirtless, as are other men.
  • Donna, Tanya and Rosie all shake their clothed butts toward the camera during a musical number.
  • SMOKING
  • Sky twice holds an unlit cigar.
  • Sky sings a lyric about Sophie saying his only vice was smoking.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • We hear that Tanya has been married and divorced three times.
  • Donna tells Sophie that when she (Donna) got pregnant, her mom told her not to come back, and Donna says she wouldn't have had it any other way.
  • We hear that Sam is divorced and wasn't madly in love with the woman he married (even at the time of the marriage).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Sophie needing to find out the identity of her biological father.
  • Casual sex: About her past and sleeping with Sam, Harry and Bill in the same summer, Donna says she was a stupid and reckless "slut." Those men then discover that one of them is Sophie's father.
  • We hear that Tanya has been married and divorced three times.
  • Donna tells Sophie that when she (Donna) got pregnant, her mom told her not to come back, and Donna says she wouldn't have had it any other way.
  • VIOLENCE
  • None.



  • Reviewed July 7, 2008 / Posted July 18, 2008

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