Confirmed my original opinion that the musical version of The Producers was a flash-in-the-pan success that won't be remembered ten years from now.
The Producers (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:148
Fresh:75
Rotten:73
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Despite the rich source material, The Producers has a stale, stagy feel more suited to the theater than the big screen.
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Dec 16, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $19,151,907
Synopsis: This remake of Mel Brooks' 1968 film features Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the roles that they originated in the smash Broadway adaptation of the original film. Broadway producer Max... This remake of Mel Brooks' 1968 film features Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the roles that they originated in the smash Broadway adaptation of the original film. Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Lane) is famous for his spectacular opening night flops. Leopold Bloom (Broderick) is an uptight accountant who virtually discovers gold while reviewing Max's books. When Leo realizes that you can actually make more money with a flop than with a hit, the two team up and begin a search for both the worst script and the worst director they can find to ensure failure. The script selection seems easy when the duo stumble upon SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER, an homage to the Fuhrer penned by Franz Liebkind (Will Ferrell), a German sympathetic to the Nazi cause. Convinced that the script will incite outrage, the duo needs a bad director to seal the deal. Campy director Roger DeBris (Gary Beach) and his assistant (Roger Bart) fit the bill perfectly. But when their scheme fails, Max and Leo find themselves with the worst possible outcome: a hit. To make matters worse, Franz is just a little peeved that Hitler was depicted disrespectfully--and he has a gun. Will Max and Leo survive the playwright's wrath? Will they go to jail for cooking the books? And will Leo ever submit to the advances of sexy Swedish receptionist/actress Ulla (Uma Thurman)? Directed by stage director Susan Stroman, making her feature film directorial debut, this riotous romp features lots of laughs from the major players, as well as brief appearances by Jon Lovitz, Michael McKean, and Richard Kind. Lane and Broderick make it easy to understand why the show was an unprecedented hit on Broadway, and Ferrell is a scene-stealer as Liebkind. [More]
Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell
Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Andrea Martin, Gary Beach, Roger Bart
Director: Susan Stroman
Director: Susan Stroman
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for The Producers
Despite a certain manic energy, the comic schtick between Lane and Broderick feels as stale as last year's croissants; you can tell they've done these jokes a thousand times.
It's novel only if you're curious about what you missed on Broadway, but it ultimately disrespects cinema.
'Everything is show biz, don't you know,' states Lane, and 'The Producers' evangelizes this message with fundamentalist zeal.
The Producers is a movie based on a play based on a movie about a play. And that's probably the funniest thing about it.
The original was far funnier and somehow managed to cut to the chase with less of a song and dance.
Sure, The Producers, a movie-turned-hit Broadway musical-turned-movie again is pure camp, filled with over-blown musical numbers and over-inflated performances. But that's what we want in a movie musical--unadulterated fun.
The real reason to see this film is the addition of the musical numbers -- catchy and clever songs, written in the style of classic 1950s Broadway musicals.
Nathan Lane's brand of old-school shtick is exactly what this project calls for.
Ferrell hasn’t been this enjoyably nuts since Old School, proving that his real talent is as an ensemble player rather than a marquee star.
Not so much a film as an awkwardly framed souvenir of the Broadway hit musical, The Producers needs a live audience like a candle needs oxygen.
If it's subtlety you're after, go see another movie. But if you just want to laugh, make a date with The Producers.
Not for the resolutely politically correct or the shtick-averse. For everyone else, it's the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.
It's not funny, and not because it's shocking, but because it's old--so old, in fact, that it's just, well, pathetic.
The kind of screwy indulgence only Brooks could spotlight, and it did occur to me, as I watched it, how much absurd voices like his are missed in today's movies.
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