= 2 stars

Starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Uma Thurman
Directed by Susan Stroman

Amazon link

This is the film version of a hit Broadway musical that was based on a Mel Brooks film: an inverted, laughable situation that unfortunately, this film never touches on. The basic gist is that Broadway producers Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) and Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) strive to stage a play so terrible that it’s a guaranteed flop - allowing them to run off with the investor’s money. Could this business model be applied to a Silicon Valley startup? Never mind.

I found the comedic core of The Producers decently funny - especially Uma Thurman as Ulla, a hot imported bimbo blonde, and another scene featuring an ambiguously gay production company. Some of the songs are charming, namely the handful spat out by the totally brain-dead yet psychotic Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind (Will Ferrel).

Unfortunately, an intolerable amount of screen time elapses between inspiration to actual staging of this dramatic dreck. I kept checking my watch to see how much time had vanished, which soon became checking my watch to note the last time I checked it.

The lamest thing is the flaccid flop isn’t all that offensive. Dancing, singing Nazis are rather passe - what was shocking decades ago isn’t really, today. Where’s the satirical holocaust, full frontal Anne Frank nudity, or Paris Hilton cavorting with a naked Harry Potter, for example? Better material exists on Fark.

Also, if the flop becomes a success, why that wouldn’t be a good thing? Couldn’t you cover both bases so no matter what happened, you’d make out like a bandit?

Still, all the actors involved are stellar, exuding a shiny confidence, especially in what physical poses and facial expressions are needed to sell the absurd situations. But in addition to the aforementioned pacing problems, it seems like the director doesn’t help anybody in the least. Shots are framed head-on as if this is a play (which it isn’t), or scenes seem shot with the hope it could all be worked out in editing (which it wasn’t). Something was definitely lost in translation.

After all the chuckles and boredom passed, I definitely enjoyed other movie musicals like Chicago or Dreamgirls loads more. I’m sure the Broadway version of The Producers is great, but I can’t even recommend this film version as a rental.

Of course, now I’m wondering: did anybody make out like a bandit after this cinematic flop?

IMDB: The Producers
Wikipedia: The Producers
Rotten Tomatoes: The Producers 51%

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Categories: 2 Star Movies, Movies :: Tags: 2 stars, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman :: Trackback URL
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