"A "just for fun" feel-good movie!"
As someone who knew every lyric and every harmony line of every ABBA song ever released, I was worried that fitting a story around these songs could be a disaster, but I figured that if Bjorn and Benny were happy with it, then it must be OK. And their input really shows.... Purist ABBA fans will not be disappointed, whilst those who just know a handful of favourites will also enjoy this outing.
The cast are great - and the fact that some of the vocals are a little unpolished only seems to add to the "reality" of the characters and the story. The songs were for the most part totally appropriate to story-line, and there was a great variety of them, including some of their more obscure offerings from their last studio album, which was great to see!
Meryl Streep was fabulous - you believed every second of her performance, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters had some brilliant moments as her girl-hood friends. The three "dads" were totally believable (although my only moment of doubt was the image of a singing "James Bond"), and the young actors who played the happy couple, were arguably the best singers in the ensemble, and held their own amongst the all-star cast.
This is one of those movies that will develop a cult following - a-la "Rocky Horror" and "Grease". Make sure you get along to see it. You will walk out with a big smile on your face - humming your favourite song!
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