Review of 'The Producers'

the_producers.jpg Producer Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) is an unsuccessful Broadway producers but with the help of his meekly mannered accountant Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) they come up with the idea of creating a musical so bad it fails and they pocket the money raised to create it. The first step is to find a screenplay. They settle on “Springtime for Hitler” written by neo-Nazi Franz Liebkindas (Will Ferrell) for being a perfect flop. For a director they find the flamboyantly over-the-top, camp, Roger DeBris (Gary Beach) who pledges to make “Springtime for Hitler” into a gay romp of a musical featuring Hitler.

This is a musical film based on the fabulously successful Broadway stage production (staring both Lane and Broderick) which itself was based on a film of 1967 starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder (not a musical) all of which were written by Mel Brooks. The story is ludicrous, poking knowing fun at the stage, and it is all the better for it.

Yes, this is most definitely not a politically correct film but that is entirely the point - It thumbs it's nose at political convention for sake of some seriously big laughs. The sets are amazing as are the musical numbers and the acting is superb no doubt due to the recasting of the stars of the Broadway show. I will have to say of the supporting cast it is only Uma Thurman as Ulla that fails to convince - A step too far as the stereotypical “air headed” foreign bomb-shell blond secretary.

True aficionados of the show may complain at particular numbers being left out or what have you but what remains is done to absolute perfection - “I Want to be a Producer” becomes a massive number with sets of a scale that would be impossible to have on a Broadway stage. It just looks and sounds incredible, it takes the Broadway show and polishes it up to an amazing shine.

Amazing sounding and looking as well as great laughs, “The Producers” is a fantastic bit of fun even if you are not a huge fan of musicals.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2019-09-28


Directed by: Susan Stroman

Studio: Universal Pictures

Year: 2005

Length: 134 minutes

Genre: Musical

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395251/