"B+" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

Before seeing the bouncy, thoroughly enjoyable "Mamma Mia," I was able to listen to David Edelstein, a movie reviewer that I greatly admire. Much to my foreboding, he ended a horribly negative review of this new musical with words to the effect of, "I felt as if I was lying in a sensory deprivation tank without the ability to escape."

I'm sorry, Mr. Edelstein, but I could not possibly disagree with you more. With the clear exception of the woefully miscast Pierce Brosnan (whose singing Edelstein accurately described as similar to that of a water buffalo!), this film is delightful fun from beginning to end. It is fluffy, charming and as sweet as its wonderful cast who, by the way, were clearly having a grand old time.

I saw "Mamma Mia" during a weeknight showing at Traders Point with a surprisingly large audience, and that clearly shaped my experience. Overwhelmingly female, they repeatedly laughed and occasionally applauded throughout the movie. Granted, it at times tottered on the edge of Bollywood nonsense. However, how can you possibly not like a movie that so clearly engages its audience as "Mamma Mia" does?

Meryl Streep is the consummate professional, and she proved in Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion" (2006) that she can sing almost as well as she can act. And Amanda Seyfried, who plays her daughter on the eve of her wedding, leaves no doubt that she is more than just a pretty face. There is a clear chemistry between the two, and the movie benefits from it.

Filmed on location in the Greek Isles, the scenery is stunningly beautiful. It serves as the gorgeous backdrop to Seyfried's wedding as she awaits the arrival of the three men who may be her father. (All of whom she has invited without the knowledge of Ms. Streep, her single mother.) While what ensues is largely predictable and thinly designed as an excuse to sing Abba's classic songs, it leads to one scene after another of spirited high-jinks that leaves your toes tapping and a smile on your face.

While all three would be fathers, the accomplished and always decent Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard and the aforementioned Mr. Brosnan, are suitably charming (again, if you excuse Brosnan's bellowing), this movie belongs to the women. As I watched the women in this film interact, I could not help but think of Cindy Lauper's great hit "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Certainly, all the girls in the audience were!

In particular, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, playing Streep's dearest friends who have arrived on the Island for the wedding, are a verifiable treasure. I have always felt that Baranski had an earthy, sexy nastiness that was never quite fully developed in any previous role. Here, she is splendid as a thrice-divorced woman of the world dedicated to a life of polite debauchery and a great amount of plastic surgery.

As for Ms. Walters, she has flown under the radar screen despite her enormous dramatic acting accomplishments in such wonderful films as "Educating Rita" (1983); "Billy Elliott" (2000); "Becoming Jane" (2000); "Calendar Girls" (2003) and her reoccurring role as Ms. Weasley in the "Harry Potter" movies. Here, she almost steals this movie with her campy, vampy performance which intensifies with each Abba song that she sings.

Just as "Sex In The City" struck a chord with female audiences around the country, it is clear that "Mamma Mia" has done the same. Make no mistake that the principal theme of this movie is about female bonding of every age. It is about young women sharing the splendid anticipation of the limitless possibilities of life, as well as their mothers and friends reflecting on their past struggles and their future hopes. Here's to you, girls.

"Mamma Mia" represents the continual rebirth of the Hollywood Musical. Movie fans had an inkling that Hollywood was daring to explore this dormant theme years ago with "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (2001). Since then, it has continued to be refined in such truly accomplished films as the Oscar recognized "Moulin Rouge" (2001); "Chicago" (2002) and "The West Bank Story" (2005). Though there have been some misfires along the way when trying to take Broadway Musicals to the screen, most notably "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004); "Rent" (2005) and "The Producers" (2005), "Mamma Mia" retains much of its Broadway magic as did last year's splendid "Hairspray."

So let's raise a toast to Ms. Streep, Baranski, Walters and Seyfried. Here's to women of all ages, and a movie that celebrates their gender.