When the first trailers for “Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again” arrived, the absence of Meryl Streep was conspicuous. As were certain lines that hinted at her character Donna Sheridan’s absence in the “Mamma Mia” movie sequel. Her likely permanent absence. I was concerned. Surely they didn’t… (spoilers to follow from here on…)
Meryl Streep was listed as a cast member on IMDb, so her presence in “Mamma Mia – Her We Go Again” seemed assured, but by the time the (mostly enthusiastic) reviews for the return of the ABBA movie musical hit the internet, the death of Meryl Streep’s character Donna Sheridan a year before the present day events in the movie was confirmed.
My reaction might be summarized thusly:
They killed off Meryl?! OK, not Meryl, but they killed off Donna? The heart and soul of the first “Mamma Mia”? They give the character a happy end in the first movie, only to wrest it all brutally away within four years of story or so, dead and mourned by all in the new movie?
Isn’t this all supposed to be happy escapist fun? I really was counting on that! Goofy, happy, tuneful fun! Why let the death of the most beloved character hang sorrowfully over the escapist proceedings? How is that supposed to work without souring the whole soufflé?
Surprisingly enough, for the most part it works just fine, even for me who admittedly maybe cares a little too much; and even though I still would have preferred explaining away the absence of Streep from 95% of the movie with way-laid travels or perhaps a full on coma from which Donna could return/awaken just in time for the finale and then resume her happily ever after (no less plausible than much else in these films’ plots).
Nonetheless, cheery/wistful Abbaesque shenanigans ensue enjoyably throughout. Grief over Donna is treated lightly, both sincerely and comically, casting not a pall but mostly merely a light melancholy over the film. I guess in these darker times, even the most unabashedly escapist bauble must take on a wistful patina.
Which by the final song becomes an undeniable tearjerker. Streep finally appears in the flesh – that may not be the best phrase, since technically at that point she is appearing as a ghost or memory – singing “My Love, My Life” with her daughter, who is baptizing her own daughter. At which point I have to concede through my gushing tears that Donna’s demise gives this mother/daughter duet sequel a gut-punching power that travel delays or even a coma comeback just wouldn’t have mustered. The original “Mamma Mia” didn’t open such floodgates. (And I am certainly not alone in responding that way. The BBC radio 5 Live movie critic Mark Kermode, already on record declaring “My Love, My Life” his favorite ABBA song, confessed not just to tears but to loud sobbing in the screening room. You go, Mark, and “Hello to Jason Isaacs!”)
“My Love, My Life”, beautifully sung by Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried (and Lily James as the young Donna on the opening verse), is the undeniable musical and dramatic highlight of the movie. And by that I mean no disrespect to the whole entertaining cast, new and returned. Heck, just Cher singing “Fernando” with Andy Garcia is a glorious gift from the Movie Music Gods!
My Love, My Life – ABBA
My Love, My Life – Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Lily James
But there is one more musical gem from Streep via “Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again”, one even better than her singing “My Love My Life”. And no, I don’t mean the reprise of “Super Trouper” during the credit encores.
And then today, the obvious betrayal of the country. The unmistakable beholdenness, obsequiousness, to a murderous dictator, a smiling villain, the puppet master.
This year the rose garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden had received a “hard cut”, as we heard a passerby explain. Which made it still lovely but less lush than in 
But this year for the first time I will also include some cool videos of art that changes over time or with shifting viewer perspectives.
Or you can purchase an oil painting of a tv cartoon still of Bart Simpson and Joe Namath. Just one option of many on display at the Joe Namath Foundation Exhibition.
Notes from a Composer 