Walking on Sunshine: the feel-ennui musical of the year

As far as ‘jukebox films’ go, Mamma Mia! was a riot, Sunshine on Leith was tolerable, just about, while Walking on Sunshine is a step too far and brings the genre to its knees.It’s being billed as ‘the feel-good musical of the year’ although, bereft of a single original idea, ‘the feel-ennui musical of the year’ may be the better fit. Also, ‘I-feel-really-really-bored-and-quite-insulted-and-also-rather-repulsed-and-I-keep-checking-my-watch-in-the-hope-it-will-be-over-soon’ would cover it quite adequately.

Set to 1980s hits (‘Holiday’; ‘Don’t You Want Me’; ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, etc.), it’s as if the screenwriter (Joshua St Johnston, who should be ashamed) and the directors (Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini; ditto) looked at Mamma Mia! and thought: ‘Let’s do that again, but make it horrible and bad and ill-considered. ‘It takes place in the sun-soaked Mediterranean, by the sea. There is a wedding that may or may not happen. There are set pieces in town squares and courtyards and what have you.