The Producers
The Producers (Director: Susan Stroman)
Stroman directed the Broadway musical on which this is based, itself based on Mel Brooks's 1968 film. Brooks joined Thomas Meehan on the musical's screenplay, including the songs. The only actors not in the original who appear here are Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell. This gets a limited December 16 release and is slated for a wider audience January 13, 2006.
I saw this musical when it came to TPAC a year or so ago. It was funny and lively and an overall just good time. I'm a big fan of the original movie, too. So I was looking forward to the new film version.
Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) is a has-been Broadway producer whose latest stage shows close after one night. An accountant, Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick), comes in to do some work on the latest flop, and discovers that a good way to make a dishonest buck is to raise entirely too much money for a play that is destined to fail and pocket the leftover cash. So, Max finds the worst play ever written, "Springtime for Hitler" by Frank Liebkind (Will Ferrell). He then finds the worst director, the flamboyantly gay Roger De Bris (Gary Beach). He then finds the worst actors, including Swedish hottie Ulla (Uma Thurman). Now, get fundraising from desperate old ladies who ask for a bang for their bucks and the dirty money will just pour in. Of course, the play is a big hit.
Brooks and Meehan are good with wordplay, that old-fashioned style of "beat the censors" type of language, which gives this movie a retro feel. But the songs aren't all great, and aren't all funny. Not to say that there aren't some showstoppers here. The choreography is a little different from the stage show. You know how you see things in a stage show that make you wonder, "How did they do that...right under my nose?" well the movie takes away a lot of that magic. And when you overplay in a movie, as Broderick does, clearly trying to evoke his 2001 Broadway performance, where it probably worked better, the effect is grating. Then again, not to say he's bad, really. Nathan Lane seems to have everything down pat.
It's OK fun, but I was a left a little underwhelmed. This movie certainly isn't as good as it is on stage and neither are as good as the original.
posted by Chris @ 11/22/2005 06:29:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I find it strange that this is only getting a limited release until the first of the year. I thought this would be a big Christmas release. Surely, it will make some money
This is one of those movies that I think studios get a little scared about. Sure, it's a well-known musical, but then you have to compete against KING KONG and the rest of the deluge that has come out since Thanksgiving--especially RENT. They probably used the "they'll probably be tired of musicals" excuse not to release this wide around Christmas.
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