Over the weekend, I happened to see Definitely, Maybe, the Ryan Reynolds movie of a few months ago in which a girl played by Abigail Breslin begs her father to tell her all about the three women he once loved, eventually letting her in on which one ended up being her mother. I couldn't help but think a bit of that when I saw Mamma Mia!, the infectious musical written by Catherine Johnson, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and chock full of some of ABBA's best songs.

In Mamma Mia!, a daughter seeks to figure out which man out of a possible three is the father she never knew. Her mother provides the background she needs to invite the men to her wedding, but only inadvertently; a 21-year-old diary clues her in. She's certain she'll know her father at first sight, if in fact he shows up, but nothing is ever as simple as it seems...

Amanda Seyfried is fresh-faced, sweet-voiced, dimply Sophie, who can't wait to embrace the great adventure of marriage but feels her nuptials will be incomplete without her father in the picture. Her naive gesture of inviting her mother's three summer flings leads both her and her mother, hard-working hotel manager Donna (Meryl Streep), on a whirlwind path of discovery.

I've heard some derisive comments about Streep's singing, but I thought she did an excellent job, performing songs in emotional states ranging from raucously giddy to reflectively wistful to flat-out wrenching. Having most recently seen her in The Devil Wears Prada, I couldn't help but notice how entirely opposite Donna is from the icy Miranda Priestly. Here, she is frazzled, affectionate and free-wheeling, at least in spirit, as we see in a fun fantasy sequence as well as a lively scene in which she leaps upon her bed in half-buttoned overalls, looking like a 10-year-old at a slumber party.

Her friends help cement that impression. Donna is frequently accompanied throughout the movie by her gal pals Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters). Tanya is a sultry, pampered serial monogamist, while Rosie is a hermetic culinary expert (with precious little resemblance, I might add, to maternal Molly Weasley, the role for which I know Walters). The women don't initially seem to have much in common, but once they reunite with Donna, the three prance around like schoolgirls, taunting each other with wicked humor and flirting with men half their age. I found Walters especially amusing, with plenty of slapstick moments, especially out on the water and during a sudden proposition she makes near the end of the film.

Sophie has a pair of friends as well, and when they are together they act just as silly as Donna and her buddies, but they are much more in the background than Tanya and Rosie. Because the focus is so much upon Sophie's search for her father, her husband-to-be, Sky (Dominic Cooper), gets a little lost in the shuffle as well, though he's present enough to give us some sense of their relationship. Showing up more than those three are the members of Sophie and Donna's very own Greek chorus, who are never too busy to drop everything and follow the blond beauties on their wild jaunts around town. While they make the film feel less realistic, they add to its bright, fun feeling and provide some of those harmonies that are so essential to most ABBA songs.

I've often commented on the trend, particularly in animated musicals, to take one or two of the movie's big numbers and transform them into radio hits. Journey to the Past, for example, or Colors of the Wind. I always like the movie versions better, as they're so in-the-moment and character-driven. It's interesting, then, to see pop songs here transformed into musical numbers. Some words are spoken, others are sung with quavering hesitation or unabashed exuberance. Thus, some have a very different feel to them than they originally did, and they've now been placed into a very specific context. I applaud Catherine Johnson for her cleverness in weaving such an entertaining story around songs unrelated aside from the group that performed them. While I probably knew fewer than half of the songs, it was especially fun to see how the familiar tunes got reworked.

While it was primarily the joyful music and the dazzling Greek seascapes that drew me into the movie, what held my attention most were the three potential dads. Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), by happy coincidence, come over to the island together after missing the main ferry. Bill, an adventurous travel writer, turns up with his sailboat just as Harry and Bill are bemoaning their bad luck. From then on, the three men stick together, instant friends despite the differences in their personalities. These are three of the most affable fellows ever to share the screen, and each, quickly charmed by Sophie, takes on a fatherly role without yet knowing the real reason for his visit. While all of them have affection for Donna deep-seated enough to take a last-minute international trip, it transpires that only one of the men is still head-over-heels in love with her, so there's no bitter competition for Donna's favor. It's swell to see three leading men who are such genuinely nice guys.

So there's some naughty innuendo and a couple of side romances that happen abruptly. Streep and her former beaus seem a little too old for their roles, and I've seen more nasty insults hurled at Brosnan's pipes than Simon could fling in several cities' worth of crummy auditions. Frankly, I found his voice passable at worst, and even if it had been nails on a chalkboard I doubt I would have cared in a film this fun. Mamma Mia! is perfect light, summery fare boasting an engaging story, stupendous songs and seasoned actors. How could I resist that?

Recommended: Yes