Movie Review

The Producers

It's hard to really criticize "The Producers," number one because it was written by Mel Brooks, whom I have a deep respect for, and number two because it has won like 50 Tony awards and people everywhere seem to love it. Only at the same time it represents almost everything that's wrong with turning classic comedies into musicals. The story remains the same. Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) is a former heavyweight Broadway producer whose hit a big skid. His shows have turned so bad that the only people who will give him funding are horny old ladies looking for one last hurrah before they die.

Salvation comes in the form of a mousy accountant named Leo Bloom (Mathew Broderick), who tells Max that it would be easier to make more money with a flop than with a hit. The idea strikes the two as genius. They find the worst play in "Springtime for Hitler," a glamorous view of the Furor. They get the worst director in cross-dresser Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) - and for the final touch, the worst actor as well. But, like this year's "The Pacifier," a steaming pile of crap this big can only be a success.

The best that can be said here is that director Susan Stroman keeps the musical firmly planted in its theatrical roots. Where else can we see an accountant sing as well as dance with several rockette-like dancers who emerge from file cabinet doors? Critics always blast musicals for lack of realism and this one definitely doesn't have any, but it mirrors many of the light, older musicals in terms of style, and from time to time that is enough to bring a smile to your face in and of itself.

Only where "The Producers" (and many other musicals) fails is in the comedy. Many of the jokes, like De Bris being a cross dresser, had more zip in the 1968 original, and the new material doesn't hold a candle to the old material it's replacing. What happened to the hippie who was cast as Hitler? Brooks has always had a knack for the absurd but here his sense of ridiculousness just seems childish. He litters the film with over-the-top gay caricatures, like De Bris and his assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart), and their village people-like chorus line of advisors, that are less offensive to gays than just offensive to anyone with a brain. There are also jokes here that would probably work well in theater but just look irritating on film, like having an entire courtroom break into a festive dance party when two characters enter after vacationing in Rio.

The musical numbers don't fair much better. "Keep it Gay" is a fun little ditty from De Bris and Ghia about the sort of show they like to produce while Swedish Bialystock and Bloom secretary Ulla (Uma Thurman) give a wonderfully flexible and sexy spin to her song "If you've got it, flaunt it." And of course "Springtime for Hitler" is an offensive gem, but that's been a classic for close to forty years now. The rest of the songs, like "We can do it" and one by Bialystock from prison where he has to sum up the whole plot, don't really have much to say and lack much of the wit Brooks is capable of.

That the movie manages any humor at all rests firmly with the actors. Broderick and Lane should be old pros by now, and from their first scene, they generate laughs. Broderick has a nerdy, insecure, and nervous way about him that works well with Lane's fool at the end of his pitiful rope blustering. Will Ferrell also has a great time playing Franz Liebkind, the insane German author of the play. He needed a career turnaround and un-hinged former nazi sympathizer was a good way to go. Uma Thurman has a good time hamming it up here as well, although at times her accent slips. The stars do what they can, but they aren't Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and Brooks doesn't seem like the Brooks from the original "Producers" either. Unfortunately, this version just seems tired and needless.

Craig's Grade: C+

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%