I haven't seen the 1968 version of The Producers starring Gene Wilder...but I'd like to. Mel Brooks screen play is sharp and fun and has done well on screen as well as on stage. However, where Wilder has always been a mesmerizing comedian I find Matthew Broderick is often stale. Yes his character has quirks and they're at times hilarious, but over all he has felt forced since his perfect role as Ferris Bueller. Broderick loves musicals. He remade one of my favourites, The Music Man, and I had the same complaint then: new fangled choreography can't make up for a cardboard cut out with little charm. Nathan Lane (most famous as Timon from The Lion King) is a voice actor mainly, but his outrageous vocal antics work in a flamboyant musical.
The premise: two men decide to make a cheap broadway flop and run away with the excess endorsements...but finding the worst actors/director/play is harder than one might think...and a ravishing Swedish girl might make things more complicated (played by Uma Thurman).
The songs are catchy, the antics ridiculous (Will Ferrell - who I normally do not enjoy - is a pretty great Nazi), but it doesn't quite feel right over all. I'm holding out on the original to satisfy me.
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