Mamma Mia!

The hit musical distilled from the Abba songbook comes to the screen, with a young bride (Amanda Seyfried) surprising her mother (Meryl Streep) by sending invitations to three of Mom’s ex-lovers, one of whom must be her father (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård, all gamely croaking their share of the songs); Christine Baranski and Julie Walters complete the all-star cast. Stage director Phyllida Lloyd makes her first movie; sometimes she knows what to do with the camera, but more often she doesn’t. Still, exuberance is high, and the music is catchy enough—and well enough sung and danced—that it can’t help being fun. Amid all the disco clatter, the best performance in the movie is liable to go unnoticed: Seyfried’s tender rendition of “Thank You for the Music” over the closing credits.