Je t'aime à l'italienne

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.

I guess most people have not even heard of this musical movie. It is similar to Mama Mia without the big stars, and with pop 80's song instead of just ABBA. People from my age group will recognize all the songs. The interesting thing is this movie has a character similar to Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia. Can you recall his singing talent? I found it fun to guess and recognize all the songs. However, the dance choreography is quite standard without much wow effect. The acting of some makes you feel like watching high school musical. Overall, I enjoyed watching it but not too many repeat in the future, which is rare for a musical movie.

Pretty much what I expected - a just reading the trailer with a bit of common sense tells you all about the film and you can work the rest out with little effort! Music was OK - storyline totally predictable, acting pretty rubbish. Not my usual sort of film but went in a group. If you liked Mamma Mia you will probably enjoy this, but definitely not my cup of tea! Good bits were the scenic vistas (does make you want to visit) and the Italian eye candy for the ladies. Definitely not a 'deep and meaningful' film and when they launched into song at the drop of a hat, it got quite amusing (though I am not sure that was the intention). What I would call a fluffy film - no substance to it but I didn't fall asleep and I did tap my feet a few times!

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.

The familiar story of a British girl going on a holiday in the Mediterranean and getting involved with a local boy. Once the summer's over so is the romance.

Three years later her sister is to marry that boy, so what is she to do?

The story unfolds in the background of beautiful seaside, nice old buildings and of course lots of songs from the 1980's. One needs not read too much into the story as there are few issues, especially with the ease which the main characters use the word 'love' as well as the speed at which they are prepared to marry...or not!

Ultimately, this is nothing more than a summer flick and will provide for a fairly pleasant 90 minutes.