The Producers - Movie Review

Max Bialystock was once one of Broadway's most successful producers, but a string of flops has thrown his career into a tailspin, and now he struggles to raise the cash to stage new shows by playing gigolo to lonely old ladies. While going over his books, accountant Leo Bloom notices that Bialystock raised more money than he spent for one show, and points out that if one raised enough money for a show that closed in one night, you could make more off a flop than a hit. This strikes Bialystock as a brilliant scheme, and he decides to give it a try, persuading Bloom to join him in staging the world's greatest flop. After discovering a truly vile script - "Springtime for Hitler," a musical set in the Third Reich written by neo-Nazi pigeon fancier Franz Liebkind - and giving a key role to the secretary Ulla, a drop-dead gorgeous blonde with only a tenuous understanding of the English language, Bialystock and Bloom are certain they have the disaster they need for their plan to work. But the scheme unexpectedly goes wrong when "Springtime for Hitler" becomes a "so bad it's good" hit.

Full disclosure - I am not a huge fan of musicals and didn't particularly like the film version of Chicago. This musical had so much hype (particularly surrounding the greatness of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane on Broadway) that I was expecting a terrific film. Like most things, this didn't live up to the hype, but it wasn't terrible either. It had some very good, funny and entertaining moments and then there were some dull and boring scenes - I didn't particularly like the music part of this musical. Matthew and Nathan worked well together and I was pleasantly surprised by Will Ferrell's character who was very humorous despite being a huge fan of Hitler. Uma Thurman was less impressive and I didn't think the Swedish accent worked for her. If you're a fan of musicals, you might enjoy this film, but if not, try Rent instead which at least has some quality songs.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.