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The PRODUCERS (2005 - Susan Stroman)
What a great time. I had seen the original production on Broadway, and Susan Stroman managed to transfer all that fun right back to the big screen...with plenty of little changes as it was re-adapted for the cinema. Smiled and laughed and tapped my feet the whole way through. Lane and Broderick are terrific of course, but I already knew they could play their roles. And Gary Beach & Roger Bart as well. I was a little wary going in as to how the new recruits, Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell, would do as Ulla and Franz, but they were very good as well. I would have liked to see Cady Huffman and Brad Oscar back with the rest of the original cast, but I suppose a couple concessions had to be made to get the film made with a decent-sized budget. Happily Thurman and Ferrell are more than just lending their names to the poster, they pull off their roles with seeming ease (and at least Brad Oscar got a little cameo in the flick, and Cady got to play "herself" on the fourth season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). If you haven't seen it yet but plan to, for goodness sake stay until the very end credits: even Mel Brooks himself makes an appearance (other than his two vocal cameos that he reprised from the stage production). Lots and lots of fun. As a movie experience, I'd put it on par with the 1968 original. Yup, it's that good.
GRADE: A-
The PRODUCERS (2005 - Susan Stroman)
What a great time. I had seen the original production on Broadway, and Susan Stroman managed to transfer all that fun right back to the big screen...with plenty of little changes as it was re-adapted for the cinema. Smiled and laughed and tapped my feet the whole way through. Lane and Broderick are terrific of course, but I already knew they could play their roles. And Gary Beach & Roger Bart as well. I was a little wary going in as to how the new recruits, Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell, would do as Ulla and Franz, but they were very good as well. I would have liked to see Cady Huffman and Brad Oscar back with the rest of the original cast, but I suppose a couple concessions had to be made to get the film made with a decent-sized budget. Happily Thurman and Ferrell are more than just lending their names to the poster, they pull off their roles with seeming ease (and at least Brad Oscar got a little cameo in the flick, and Cady got to play "herself" on the fourth season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). If you haven't seen it yet but plan to, for goodness sake stay until the very end credits: even Mel Brooks himself makes an appearance (other than his two vocal cameos that he reprised from the stage production). Lots and lots of fun. As a movie experience, I'd put it on par with the 1968 original. Yup, it's that good.
GRADE: A-