The Producers

Do you love great drama? Timeless soliloquies? Great love affairs? Forget The Producers.

Do you adore silly schmaltz? Over the top acting? Hokum and Bunkum? Laughing till you cry? Have I got a flick for you! Mel Brooks has been absent from the silver screen for far too long, but he bursts forth brilliantly with his rewritten musical comedy.

The wife and I ventured forth on a foul Saturday afternoon and joined a movie house full of aging laugher wannabes in a suburban mall for a couple of hours of escapism. We got it in full measure.

The story line is worn and has been recycled many times, but the sheer audacity of the dialogue and the brilliance of the cast made this an afternoon to remember. Nathan Lane and Mathew Broderick are well known commodities, and their counterpoint playing was wonderful but fully expected. But Will Farrell as the demented playwright injects a madness reminiscent of the old time Brooks movies that was – I think – missing from the first movie made from this material.

Lane really is equal to Zero and Broderick misses not a step in keeping up with Mel, but Farrell steals their wallets every time he appears.

The minor players are also wonderful. None of the songs seems destined for immortality, but some of the production numbers are as well done as in any musical play turned to film. Farrell’s auditioning number is a howler, and the dance of the aging widow play backers draws tears from the assembled.

When it ended, the audience broke out into spontaneous applause. This is a harmless, silly movie and audiences simply don’t do this.

Spend the money!

Blog on!

Wild Bill