The failure of this movie was mainly due to the inexperienced director. Phyllida Lloyd only has theatre background and she has made the transition to movies a painful one for her audience.

Right from the very first note in the opening song, something felt wrong. It’s not really Amanda Seyfriend’s fault as her work is commendable at the very least, but it’s just the way the scene was shot. And the one that followed, and the one following that, and after that, etc.

Her take on going in and out of songs from dialogue was excruciatingly unnatural. It’s as if there were two directors, one for the dialogue parts and one for the musical, and both of these directors never coordinate with each other.

On a stage performance, the whole cast always look in character. Not here. All the extras looked as though they have never had much acting experience and they never looked like they belonged.

All the actors, even the accomplished ones like Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep, looked like new actors trying to give a good performance. The way they were (cheaply) choreographed were so technical and unnatural that they have no charisma onscreen, nor excitement or substance. Everything looked forced.

All the singing were far from fantastic and I’m sorry but when Brosnan started belting, I thought I was getting punked.

Lloyd may have been trying to achieve the over-the-top cheesiness to blend with ABBA’s cheesy music but she never reached the level where it’s comfortably to be so, and hence everything just sat uncomfortably in mid air torturing the audience.

Rating: 3 / 10

(all images from imdb.com)