'Mamma Mia!' review

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To the surprise of her mother (Meryl Streep), Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) invites her three potential dads (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård) to her wedding to finally determine who pops really is. And every few minutes someone awkwardly breaks into an ABBA song.

Big question: Can stage director Phyllida Lloyd, making her feature debut, translate the popular musical to the big screen with the same spunk and dazzle as last year's "Hairspray"?

Skip it: A rookie director helming a movie musical is like med students performing open-heart surgery on the first day of school. Consequently, this "Mamma Mia!" sags, stalls and does very little to earn its exclamation point. Even if you love the music (really?), the movie's got no oomph, no showstopping dance numbers and many excellent actors whose voices wouldn't cut it on Broadway.

Catch it: If you share Donna's (Streep) dismay that an automatic bed maker has yet to be invented. Rest assured that one day the iPhone will be able to do that too.

Bottom line: Joy should be flowing through "Mamma Mia!" from all sides but it barely seeps in the corners. The movie comes alive only when Streep shows off her quality pipes and lets a stressed woman rediscover the rebellious freedom of her past. This all might be fun on stage, but on the big screen the execution brings the concept into question: Who wants a dullsville modern farce with dated, poorly sung '70s tunes and sex jokes so square they'd barely make June Cleaver blush?

Bonus: Stay for the end credits to see Brosnan, who should leave the singing to professionals and "American Idol" contestants, become (to the best of our knowledge) the first ex-James Bond to don a full-fledged disco jumper. Unless Sean Connery's got anything he wants to confess?

Video: Watch the review of 'Mamma Mia!'

What do you think of 'Mamma Mia!? Email me: mpais@tribune.com

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