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The Producers

Review By: Alexis Tuminello
AlexisTuminello@TheCinemaSource.com

Forget Batman and Robin… today’s dynamic duo is Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane sans capes. Or masks. Or secret identities. Or arch foes. Or a comic book. But in the Broadway hit movie adaptation of The Producers they are dynamic and they are a duo.

First Mel Brooks should be applauded for bringing this gem to both stage and screen. This man can do anything and it will be a huge success. For The Producers he wrote the music, lyrics, and stage book for The Great White Way (that’s Broadway for non-New Yorkers) and co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film. The next project he is about to bless is a film version of the classic TV show Get Smart with everybody’s favorite virgin (Steve Carrell) as the lead but maybe now we should get back to what we all came here for; the 2005 film version of a multiple Tony award winning play.

The Producers is about Max Bialystock (Lane), a washed up director who is losing money on every crappy play he has been bringing to the stage. Enter timid accountant Leo Bloom (Broderick) who unintentionally says that more cash could be made from a flop rather than a hit. You could almost see the light bulb shining brightly atop Max’s head. What a brilliant idea. But he can’t do it alone he needs Leo Bloom to make the scam look legit. It takes a bit of cajoling but loads of money is loads of money.

To create a guaranteed flop Max knows exactly what to do; get a horrible screenplay, a really lousy director and an offensive lead. To find the worst screenplay they turn to Franz Liebkind (Will Ferrell) and his play ‘Springtime for Hitler’ which does nothing but praise the self proclaimed Führer who we all know is just an all around bastard. I was a bit interested to see exactly how Hitler could be comedic and quietly waited while the plot unfolded. Next the worst director in the industry Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) and his effeminate assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart) must be persuaded to sign onto the production. As Max kisses ass it becomes clear that he knows De Bris is a hack because he’s worked with him before. Last but never least is a star who in no possible way can do anything but kill the play and who better than writer and Nazi lover Liebbkind. Somewhere along the way between the hatched scheme and opening night in a Swedish bombshell (Uma Thrman) is brought in to be secretary, a play principal (in a good way) and all-around eye candy.

Through a few accidents and cast changes, the play becomes a raging success. Max and ...