Anthony Lane’s tour de force

Anthony Lane’s seriously funny New Yorker review of “Mamma Mia!” is a must-read for anyone who likes criticism.”Like many people, I was under the impression that the new Meryl Streep film was called ‘Mamma Mia.’ The correct title is, in fact, ‘Mamma Mia!,’ and, in one keystroke, the exclamation mark tells you all you need to know about the movie….The legal definition of torture has been much aired in recent years, and I take ‘Mamma Mia!’ to be a useful contribution to that debate. In a way, the whole film is a startling twist on the black art of rendition: ordinary citizens, often unaware of their own guilt, are spirited off to a secure environment in Eastern Europe, there to be forced into a humiliating and often painful confession of sins past. ‘I tried to reach for you, but you have closed your mind,’ in the bitter words of Sam. I thought that Pierce Brosnan had been dragged to the edge of endurance by North Korean sadists in his final Bond film, ‘Die Another Day,’ but that was a quick tickle with a feather duster compared with the agony of singing Abba�s ‘S.O.S.’ to Meryl Streep through a kitchen window.” Read this!!!