The Producers

Today I saw Mel Brooks' The Producers starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. It's the adaptaion of the musical of the movie starring Zero Mostel(?) and the great Gene Wilder.

The movie was funny. Being adapted by Brooks himself, there are lines word for word form the original. The songs are extremely hilarious and very catchy. He himself even makes a cameo...but you must stick around after the credits to see it!

Nathan Lane is Max Bialostock, a down on his luck producer lowered to smoozing old ladies for money for his "plays". However, his life changes when Leo Bloom(Broderick) walks in to do his books. Leo says a producer can make more money with a flop than a he can with a hit. Max concocts a plan to find the worst play ever written and create the biggest flop in history. They choose the play Springtime for Hitler writen by Franz, a bird-loving neo nazi, played woderfully y Will Ferrel. They enlist the gayest director in New York, and hire a Sweedish secretary/receptionist names Ulla, played by Uma Thurman, who eventually falls in love with the OCD-bordering Leo.

Nathan Lane is the real star of this movie. He makes Max a complex, conniving character. I can see how he won the Tony and got a Globe nomination over Broderick. He seems so invested in Max, and plays him hilariously. Broderick, however, is a different story. While he is funny as Leo, and matched Wilder sometimes beat for beat, he doesn't seem as invested in the role as Lane is in his. I wanted Matthew to be soooo good in the film, but it didn't happen. Thurman and Ferrel are wonderful as the supporting cast, bringing life into the picture as it is starting to loose it. Ferrel is the funniest neo nazi this side of Germany, and Uma as Ulla is brilliant.

Susan Stroman who choreographed and directed both the Broadway and movie versions of The Producers is a first time director, and you can tell. There is choppy editing, and the shots seem...stale for some reason.

You must stay through the credits, for there is a lovely and hilarious bit at the end.

Overal, a good movie. Even those who aren't huge musical fans might actually like this one. I adore it, and just wish I had seen the Lane/Broderick magic on the Great White Way.