Walking On Sunshine

Vertigo Films, 2014
Starring Hannah Arteton, Annabel Scholey, Giulio Berruti, and Katy Brand
Directed by Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini
Music by various

As successful as Mamma Mia! was in the US, it was even bigger in England, where ABBA still has many long-standing fans and jukebox musicals have long been popular. That kind of success is bound to launch imitations. The music and fashion of the 80's were also starting to make a comeback in the early 2010's as people looked to thirty years before as an escape into wacky childhood memories. How did they manage to tie 14 songs of the 80's into the story of two sisters who love the same Italian man? Let's start off with the end of a summer romance in Puglia, Italy, and find out...

The Story: Taylor (Arteton) had a whirlwind summer romance in Italy with local man Raf (Berruit), but gave it up to attend college. After college, she joins her sister Maddie (Scholey) in Italy, only to discover that Maddie is now engaged to Raf. They try to deny their feelings to keep Maddie happy, but they can't help admitting they still love each other. Maddie's scuzzy ex-husband Doug (Greg Wise) wants her back in the worst way, too, and will do anything to convince her they can still make it work.

The Song and Dance: The high energy and sense of fun are the only remote saving graces here. Everyone's obviously having a good time, whether they can sing and dance or not, and they're really getting into belting all those familiar hits. There's some spectacular views in Puglia, in the heel of Italy's boot, too. Even when the story's annoying, the glowing Mediterranean vistas are often worth looking at.

Favorite Number: Taylor opens the film singing about being on "Holiday" in the airport while everyone from the pilots to the other flyers join in. Maddie sings about "The Power of Love" in a restaurant, not realizing her sister and fiancee are making goo-goo eyes at each other. Doug tries to seduce his ex with "Don't You Want Me" in the marketplace and "Faith" at her home. She manages to get rid of him both times. "White Wedding" is a montage of everyone rushing off to Maddie's big day, from Lil dragging Taylor in her car to Raf somehow getting tied to a tree and found by nuns.

What I Don't Like: First and foremost, the only one who can sing here is Leona Lewis as Maddie's friend Elena. Everyone else ranges from passable (Arteton) to ear-gratingly terrible (Wise), and it makes a lot of the numbers tough to listen to. The many chorus routines are supposed to look spontaneous, but they're really just unorganized and badly choreographed. The characters are so dull and paint-by-the-numbers, it doesn't matter which sister ends up with Raf in the end. Raf barely has any personality beyond "designated eye candy," to the point where you wonder what all the fuss is about. The story is pretty dull, too, and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The entire side plot with Doug comes off as less playful and more creepy. Doug's a real scuzzball who follows his ex half-way around the world and won't leave her alone, even when she's made it abundantly clear she has no interest in him. He's lucky all she did was kick him into the pool and played a few pranks. It doesn't help that Greg Wise is the worst singer in a film full of bad ones, and he gets two important numbers.

The Big Finale: Only if you really, really love jukebox musicals or are looking for background music on a summer's evening and aren't too particular.

Home Media: Out of print on disc in the US. Streaming is by far your best bet on this side of the pond.

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