THE PRODUCERS film review

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 11:00am

on FLORIDA message Board..........Lemme Know what you think of the film..Happy New Year to all!!!

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:59pm

oh well, here is my humble opinion below:

While eating a bialy with a dollop of lite cream cheese, it seemed appropriate to take stock of my thoughts of THE PRODUCERS film. Theater lovers and musical film devotees have anxioiusly awaited the arrival of Bialystock in Bloom (I suspect Nathan Lane likes the thought of Bialystock IN Bloom, but that is more appropriate for a posting about Brokeback Mountain.)
I had a delightful time at THE PRODUCERS film. I heartily recommend it to lovers of musicals and lovers of good laughs and a good time.........However, upon first viewing, this film does not rank with the greats of Broadway musicals transposed to the screen. I discussed the film for hours yesterday, and those of us who saw it together, seemed to indeed love it and yet didn't feel completely satisfied.

There are two majors reasons I think this film does not work as well as it should. One very serious problem, one problem, easy to correct. Firstly, the most serious problem is the Broadway musical upon which this film is based. Without the excitement of live theater and the in person encountering of the dazzling work of Susan Strohman and the design team, this film loses some of the most important elements that make the Broadway musical wonderful (it is even a wonderful show to watch without Lane and Broderick--but it is certainly more wonderful when their stardust is onstage.)
Blown up on the big screen and not live and in person, the material shows its flaws. While some humorous moments take off, others kind of arrive in the "that was a cute line" mode. One of the funniest bits from the stage show is the nazi playwright's pigeons. It is not as funny in the film and it should have been funnier in the film. Will Ferrell is excellently over the top as Franz, but his pigeons needed to be "reimagined" for the screen incarnation and they weren't. We have the film technology to make the hilarious pigeon doings from the stage show take glorious and hysterical flight in a movie. The scene is good and funny but it does not reach the heights available. Without the 'liveness' and audience interaction, other witty moments simply do not soar in the film. Most nakedly exposed is Mel Brooks' score. His servicable music and lyrics, while certainly enjoyable, keep this film from ever truly having a chance of being one of the greats.
The second major failure of this film is the exclusion of The King of Old Broadway. Do not underestimate this lack of judgement (yeah, I heard all about the test screenings and the movie scoring higher without the number included and blah, blah, blah.) HOWEVER, just as the GREAT importance of the song Comedy Tonight to the whole production of A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum, The King of Old Broadway is of great importance to THE PRODUCERS.....Aside from having the awkwardness of a musical that doesn't have its first musical number for about half an hour (with the exception of the few moments of Opening Night at the film's outset)--removing The King of Old Broadway is like ripping the guts and heart out of a key element of this musical's body. As in the original film starring Zero Mostel, the character of Max Bialystock must steer, drive, invigorate and MAKE US CARE about himself. The King of Old Broadway is one of the musical's better numbers. In the film it could have set the pace for the piece, largely riding on the exuberance of Nathan Lane's star performance in this number. We were robbed of goosebumps and the filmed performance of what makes Nathan Lane's Max already legendary. Mr. Lane is indeed excellent in the film. The film would have been HIS with this song included, without it the film is certainly more of an ensemble piece...and Max Bialystock needs to be the indisputable STAR. In the original film, Zero Mostel just had to show up on screen to accomplish this. In this film musical, Mr. Lane is rarely allowed to strut his stuff and the movie suffers because of it.
Matthew Broderick is delicious and delovely as Leo Bloom. He had me wrapped in his blue blankie as soon as he knocked at Max's door. I hope Mr. Broderick receives a supporting actor Oscar nomination for this work. If he is nominated in this category, I think he will win. There is presedent in that Gene Wilder was nominated for a supporting Oscar for the original film. Matthew Broderick is better, sexier, funnier, with a lovely singing voice and dreamy dancing.
Uma Thurman is a smashing Ulla and she may indeed reap an Oscar nomination. Curiously, there is one singular line in the film where, for the last few words of the line she drops her accent. NOBODY noticed this? Again, she was great. But, how come nobody fixed those few words of Ulla's that seemed accentless????
Gary Beach, Roger Bart and the rest of the company give wonderful recreations of their Broadway roles and the film is crammed with many enjoyable cameo appearances.

This movie is a very faithful adaptation of the stage musical (again, there are certainly some cuts, a couple of additions and I cannot underestimate the damage done to the film by excising The King of Old Broadway.) and I loved the stage musical.

Matthew and Nathan were the Broadway stars of THE PRODUCERS and when they weren't starring, Susan Strohman's directing and choreography became the star. Her work in the theater is nothing short of dazzling for THE PRODUCERS.

Essentially filming her theatrical production does indeed make for an enjoyable watch, and I suspect that it will play even better at home on a smaller screen. HOWEVER, I suspect that Stro, being a first time film director, missed some opportunities to reinvent for the film. She and Mr. Brooks are likely too close to the property and we all know about geniuses "losing perspective." Again, I had a delightful time at THE PRODUCERS film and even felt that some of the musical numbers were much too brief. Also again, I am disappointed that much of the stage magic was lost in the translation to screen. It could have been better, it should have been better.

[crzyrocket]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 5:36pm

I agree that some of the magic was lost but I was expecting that. There is no real way to capture the energy of live theatre in film which is why I disagree with those who say that watching the movie is like watching the stage show. Both are loads of fun, but they're different.

Just a small side-note: I saw the movie in NY for $12.50. Went to Florida for vacation and saw the movie for $6.00.