Ssshhhhhhhhh&ellips; Please now, everyone quiet&ellips; but I recently went to see a chick flick. And here is the part to please keep quiet: I really, really liked this movie. And not only was it a chick flick, it was also a musical&ellips; and those that me know will know of the disdain I have for musicals. But not this one. Nope, this one still has me singing.

Mamma Mia! may be the most perfect movie I get the chance to see this summer; in fact, it may be one of the most fun, most perfect movies I have seen in some time. And for this dude, that was totally unexpected.

I have to admit, there were several things about Mamma Mia! that caused me to want to see it. I think that Meryl Streep may be the best actress of all time, and the ensemble cast—including the beautiful Amanda Seyfried, the handsome Pierce Brosnan, and numerous others—is a cast well worth checking out.

The other thing is, my wife wanted to see the movie pretty badly—and on that note, I realize that a real man is willing to do things with his wife or loved ones he normally wouldn't be willing to do.

There was another reason, though&ellips; and it is one I have to ask you to keep quiet about again, as I don't want a lot of people knowing this. But the truth is, I knew the movie was based off of the Broadway play of the same title, and that it featured the music of the Swedish band Abba&ellips; and Abba was a band I actually enjoyed. (Whew! I got that out of my system; please don't hate me for it.)

How good is the cast, direction, and everything else about this film? Virtually perfect! In advance interviews related to the film, Streep had stated this was the most fun she had ever had in making a movie. That fun explodes through the screen, and frankly, as much as Streep has given the moviegoing audience over the years, audiences owe it to her to see her perform in a role where she is having such obvious fun.

I could mention so much more; the cast is wonderful, virtually every scene, every song, performed to maximum enjoyment. One of the great moves in the direction of this is having actors perform the music as opposed to lip-synching to Abba's versions. It allows them to act the part, and there are several songs that really move the audience. Not in a long time have I heard an audience reaction like I heard in Mamma Mia! One song in particular performed by Streep towards the end of the film with Pierce Brosnan, "Winner Takes It All," is actually better than the original—not because of the quality of the voices, but the ability to act out the meaning of the lyric. Truth is, not since Moulin Rouge has a better musical been made, and not since Grease has a more fun musical been made.

The plot of Mamma Mia! involves a young Donna (Streep), who has affairs with three different men over a brief period of time. In the process, Donna gets pregnant; and some twenty years later her daughter Sophie, played by Seyfried, is about to get married. She finds her mother's diary, discovers the names of the three men who could possibly be her father, and invites them all to Greece. She wants her real father, whichever one it is, to give her away at her wedding. Thereabouts is the general story that plays like a Royal Flush in the World Series of Poker finals.

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