Walking on Sunshine

Taylor fell in love with hottie Raf while on holiday in Puglia, Italy but, despite his entreaties to stay, she left to go to university. On graduating three years later, she returns to Puglia to holiday with her sister Maddie who is already there (they had decided on Puglia because it meant to much to Taylor). Maddie, who has a history of relationships with unsatisfactory men, announces that she has had a whirlwind engagement and is about to get married in two days. No surprises for guessing who the lucky fellow is...

So, let me see - a British film with a frothy story involving family relationships, secrets, romance, deceit, love, and squealy young women, in a sunny Mediterranean setting, with the plot advanced by way of the cast bursting into 30-year old pop songs at regular intervals. Walking On Sunshine isn't even a blood relation of Mamma Mia!, but it has definitely sneaked into its wardrobe, nicked its shorts, T-shirt and sandals, and put them on to make you think it is. Which gives two grounds on which to consider it - on its own merits, and by comparison to MM!.

On its own merits, it is amiable enough. The good points are that it is bright, colourful, cheerful and tuneful, and the two sisters (Hannah Arterton - younger sister of Gemma - as Taylor, and Annabel Scholey as Maddie) are both attractive and likable performers. The bad points are that it is completely predictable, the dance routines are pretty obvious (even as a non-dancer I can spot that they are not especially challenging) the cast includes two funny fat people (despite giving good performances, they are included solely for the sake of being funny fat people which, as a not particularly funny fat person, I object to), and the hot Italian blokes are indentikit and interchangeable (I accept that those who are fans of the male sixpack may feel differently).

And, compared with Mamma Mia!, it fares worse, for three main reasons. One, its following of the MM! template is absolutely transparent, from the squealy reunion at the start to the dramatic and heart-rending showstopper towards the end. Two, the selection of 80s hits doesn't have the emotional heft of a soundtrack selected entirely from the Abba catalogue. And third, and most importantly, it doesn't have a cast who bring the commitment and credibility to the froth in the way that Meryl Streep and co. did. Walking On Sunshine features a bunch of attractive 20-somethings (and one louche old lothario) who don't appear to work or have a single worry other than romantic ones: contrast Streep and the three Dads, all of whom were grounded in the real world.

If you didn't like Mamma Mia!, you aren't likely to enjoy this. If you did - well, like I said, it's sunny, cheerful and tuneful, so you may. And if you didn't see Mamma Mia! - then I guess it depends on why you didn't.

Bad girl Maddie is just about to wed hunky Italian Raf, and goody-two-shoes sister Taylor flies in, just to discover Raf, incidentally, is her holiday fling from three years ago and, even more incidentally, the love of her life. This is the ridiculous premise of this feel-good musical film which is also a blatant Mamma Mia rip off. The wedding, the songs, the locations, it is impossible not to see the link between the two movies.

Flawed as Mamma Mia was, at least it could rely on heavyweight actors like Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. The cast of this movie is nowhere near as good , and what the movie lacks in the embarrassingly simple plot, it fails to make up with chemistry and charm.

This paper-thin feel-good movie no doubt hopes to cash in on its many similarities with worldwide hit movie Mamma Mia, and both movies basically works as advertisements for holidays in Italy, showcasing breathtakingly beautiful settings.

All in all, the movie is not without its little charms and the 80s soundtrack surely appeals to many, so for an evening of feel-good fun this might just work for you, just don't expect any form of depth, thoughtfulness, cultural weight or lasting memories. I'm pretty sure you will have forgotten all about this movie in a couple of months.

I checked movie summary right away after the first song to see it said anything about being a musical, which it did not. One right after the other, they kept on coming. Seemed like they burst into song every 5 minutes. I probably would have enjoyed the movie had it not be for all the singing. I don't like musicals, so I fast forwarded through most of it. We looked it up, there are 14 songs they belt out through out the movie. Don't get me wrong they are songs I like, I just detest musicals. Storyline of the movie was good and what got me to watch it but I probably wouldn't have started the movie had I knew before hand.

Very few films aspire to the heights (or, more accurately, depths) of chirpy cheesiness achieved by Mamma Mia!: a cinematic guilty pleasure if ever there was one. Walking On Sunshine is that rare film which does. In fact, it's dancing merrily into theatres, so intent on recreating the unexpected blockbuster success of Mamma Mia! that it's forgotten to tweak the formula even a little bit. And so, we go from the sun-washed beaches of Greece to the sun-washed beaches of Italy, from cheesy but super-catchy ABBA tunes to cheesy but super-catchy 80s pop hits, from an awkward love affair to... an awkward love affair. Do you see where we're going here? The unfortunate thing is that Walking On Sunshine never quite hits on that elusive magic which allowed Mamma Mia! to be so bad and so darn good at the same time.

Here's how the story (what little there is of it) goes: Taylor (Hannah Arterton) meets and falls in love with gorgeous Italian hunk Raf (Giulio Berruti) on a sun-kissed beach in Italy. But the summer is drawing to an end, and she has to be responsible and go back to school. Three years later, when she finally graduates, Taylor returns to the same Italian village to meet her headstrong, impulsive sister Maddie (Annabel Scholey) - whereupon she learns that Maddie, on the rebound from her horrible ex Doug (Greg Wise), is due to get married in a matter of days. The twist in the tale, of course, is that Maddie is planning to marry Raf - the love of Taylor's life.

In other words, the plot, such as it is, is flimsy and contrived. The narrative staggers predictably from song to song, whether it's Taylor and Raf realising they still have feelings for each other (It Must Have Been Love), or Doug and Maddie crooning about their toxic relationship (Don't You Want Me). The characters seem to function on the basis of narrative expediency: Doug, for instance, waltzes in and out of the film, teetering dangerously between unforgivable jerk and viable love interest. Truth be told, if you're looking for depth or complexity, look away now. The film seems to operate on the blithe assumption that yet another karaoke-friendly song will sweep away the awkward writing that preceded it.

The film also falters somewhat where its cast is concerned. All of them are earnest to a fault, belting their numbers with more passion than skill. They certainly work incredibly hard at playing characters with little more complexity than a batch of paper dolls: Arterton is the textbook lovelorn but responsible girl, torn between her head and her heart, while Scholey sizzles efficiently as the bubbly Maddie. But they never really manage to give off the sheer, unmitigated joy that practically radiated from the A-list cast populating the Greek islands in Mamma Mia!. Of the supporting cast, comedienne Katy Brand wins most charismatic honours as the sisters' best friend Lil - not something that can be said of X-Factor winner Leona Lewis, who should really stick to her day job.

To be fair, Walking On Sunshine does have its merits. If you're in the right mood for it, it's a silly, summery burst of fun - not quite as funny and sweet as you might want, but good enough in a pinch. Its soundtrack is great, jumping from Madonna (Holiday) to George Michael (Faith), before taking a delightful detour into tomato-strewn mayhem in the huge musical number that accompanies the title song. There are even a couple of unexpectedly rich character moments that come courtesy of the two sisters: Taylor's bravery in returning for Maddie's wedding is a surprisingly emotional moment and one of the high points of the film.

Of course, when it comes down to it, no amount of critical analysis will matter anyway. Walking On Sunshine is, quite simply, the kind of film that's largely critic-proof. It may not even be as good as Mamma Mia!, and its story and characters are almost wilfully poorly-constructed. But it won't matter because the film is also relentlessly fun, silly, sunny, and cheesy. Berruti is gorgeous to look at, as are the sun-kissed beaches of Italy. The songs are catchy, summery and joyous. That certainly doesn't add up to 'great' but, if you're open to it, it just might add up to 'good enough'.

Watchable... Nice settings, photography. Songs was best of overplayed Radio songs of the 80's. However... this film reminded me of a "The Asylum" film studio production of an attempt capitalize on the Video sales of "Momma Mia"! The problem is it is not an Asylum Film's production.

What is missing from this modern nostalgia musical was the 'Major Actors' which the audience could immediate identify with. I felt as if some kids got together and said.. "Ha, we can do that and we don't even have to hire FAMOUS actors"... the attempt failed.

As for why "Momma Mia" works and this musicals fails is, I guess it is easy to forgive "James Bond" or "Karen Silkwood" for not having the any musical ability or voice. It's not so easy to forgive basically "unknowns" actors for destroying the songs we have heard so often. I can not say "Songs we Love"... this may also be a bit of the problem. Though the songs were 'Radio Play' hits... the songs lack the cohesion of being by one "Group" like Abba in MM. A few songs I loved, but some I actually hated having to hear again and even cringed at hearing song so off key.

All is not lost, as stated, it is a watchable movie. Musicals seldom are box office draws. I must really applaud even this attempt which is better than many NEW Musicals.