Take a Chance on Mamma Mia ?

The film of the hit musical Mamma Mia! is either awful or irresistible. It all depends on how much you like Abba

Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, and Christine Baranski (left to right) in a scene from the musical romantic comedy, "Mamma Mia!"

For a couple of decades now, the stars of big movies have been trending younger, until it seemed that the next generation of the Hollywood élite would emerge not from high schools but from the womb. This summer, though, has brought good news for geriatric actors--those over 30. Harrison Ford, who at 66 is, in movie years, practically a sequoia, looked at least as vigorous as the Indiana Jones film he headlined. Comic-book epics also have middle-aged men in lead roles: Robert Downey Jr., 43, in Iron Man and 58-year-old Ron Perlman in Hellboy II. The cosmo-swigging quartet of Sex and...

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