Hear Me Out… Pierce Brosnan’s Singing Isn’t THAT Bad in ‘Mamma Mia’

Mamma Mia! is the ultimate feel-good movie. From the gorgeous setting of Greece, to the catchy songs by ABBA, and the story as a whole. It’s impossible to watch the movie without cracking a smile, or singing along to the soundtrack. But since its release in 2008, there has been one resounding gripe that audiences everywhere have with the movie: Pierce Brosnan. Now, it’s not exactly Pierce Brosnan’s addition to the movie as a whole. As far as leading men go, Pierce Brosnan is among the best, and he’s incredibly charming as Sam Carmichael, one of the possible fathers of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). The issue fans find with Brosnan’s performance is his singing, going as far as deeming his solo song “When All is Said and Done” as the worst on the soundtrack. But it’s time to settle this once and for all… he’s really not that bad. Hear me out.

Mamma Mia

Release Date

July 2, 2008

Director

Phyllida Lloyd

Runtime

108

Main Genre

Comedy

Writers

Catherine Johnson

Studio

Universal Pictures

Tagline

Take a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!

‘Mamma Mia!’ is Based on a Stage Musical

Before it was a major motion picture, Mamma Mia! debuted as a musical for the stage. Dubbed as a jukebox musical for its addition of previously popular songs by the band ABBA, the actual story was written by British playwright Catherine Johnson. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, two of the four founding members of ABBA, were heavily involved in the making of the musical. The show first premiered in 1999 in London, and to this day is one of the longest-running productions in West End history. So it was only a matter of time before it was made into a movie musical, and finally, in 2008, that dream came true.

Mamma Mia!’s film adaptation owes a lot of its success to the fact that a lot of the people involved in the stage production also played a role in making the movie. For starters, Judy Cramer acted as producer for both the stage and film productions. Meanwhile, Phyllida Lloyd reprised her role as director and directed the film. And obviously, Benny and Björn were involved, so really, there was no reason Mamma Mia!’s film adaptation wouldn’t be a success. After all, Meryl Streep had signed on, and it’s basically impossible to dislike a movie starring Meryl Streep. But one of the biggest issues facing the movie was the fact that, save for a select few, none of the cast were singers. And given that the movie started out as a proper stage musical with trained singers, that was always going to be a bit of a dicey choice.

Pierce Brosnan is Unfairly Singled Out

It’s important to note that most of Mamma Mia!’s cast weren’t trained singers. Meryl Streep had previously sung in other roles, and Christine Baranski got her start on Broadway before shifting into acting (she also has two Tony awards!) But other actors, such as Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård were not singers, which made for a rather diverse range of musical talent. But for some reason, Pierce Brosnan is the one that everyone singles out as the worst. Now admittedly, he does put his all into his solos, making for quite a dramatic performance, but isn’t that what you want from an actor in a musical? Especially his role of a man who’s been pining for a woman for twenty years. That’s got to be cause for a little extra drama, no?

Brosnan isn’t the best singer in the cast, but he’s not as bad as everyone claims he is. And besides, the point of the movie was to be a feel-good flick, and that’s exactly what it is. It was never meant to be a polished adaption of the stage musical. It’s fun and cheerful, and that’s exactly what it should be. I’d even argue that the mediocre singing only adds to the experience. The plot of Mamma Mia! is kind of absurd when you think about it. A girl finds her mom’s diary and discovers she has three possible fathers, so she invites them to her wedding in the hopes of finding out who her dad is. And the wildest part is that they all show up! It’s not the most rational story, so does it really need super clean-cut musical numbers? No. The messiness gives the film a natural sort of feeling. It’s why the movie feels so cheerful, because it’s not overly directed. Everything feels very go-with-the-flow, as if you’re actually watching this group of people prepare for a wedding, and that’s what makes it so fun to watch.

Pierce Brosnan’s Singing Isn’t That Bad

When singing in the ensemble, Brosnan’s vocals aren’t all that prominent, which allows him to blend in pretty seamlessly with the rest of the cast. It’s when he has solos that fans really begin to scrutinize his abilities. Songs like “Our Last Summer”, “SOS”, and “I Do, I Do, I Do”, are where Brosnan gets his moment to shine. But it’s “When All is Said and Done” that catches the most flack among fans. The song, which takes place after Sam and Donna spontaneously marry, has been widely regarded as the least favorite among fans. And it is a little understandable. With songs like “Dancing Queen” and “Lay All Your Love On Me” in the soundtrack, it can be a little hard to gravitate towards the ballads as much, but “When All is Said and Done” gets an unnecessarily bad rep purely because it’s a Brosnan heavy single.

Brosnan’s character Sam sings the song to Donna after they marry, and it sort of serves as a culmination of his feelings over the past twenty years. In fact, it kind of sums up the movie in a lot of ways. It’s very much an end-of-movie kind of song, the perfect one to tie things together and lead into the final minutes. And yes, Pierce Brosnan may sing it with a little extra drama, but as we clearly saw moments before, his character is a pretty dramatic guy. (Who proposes to a woman he hasn’t seen in twenty years at her daughter’s wedding?) So really, a little added flare of drama isn’t the worst thing. And when everyone joins in to sing with him, it’s actually a really sweet moment.

It’s time we put some respect on Pierce Brosnan’s vocal abilities, because while he may not be going on to win a Grammy any time soon, he was certainly having a good time, and that’s really what matters. And upon countless rewatches, he’s really not that bad. In fact, with a little polishing, he wouldn’t be bad at all. The movie just wouldn’t be the same without his dramatic singing, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. So if you’ve been looking for a sign to rewatch Mamma Mia! or have found yourself wondering if you were just a little too harsh on Pierce Brosnan, this is your sign to give him another chance. It’s really not that bad!

Mamma Mia! is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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