The Producers

Better than Rent, but still not quite as awesome as Chicago. It took me about 20 minutes to adjust to the extremely strange musical style of this movie, but once I got a feel for it, I was shocked that I actually really liked it.

Broadway producer Max Bialystock(Nathan Lane) has made his career on the backs (or frontsides, rather) of little old ladies who will gladly fork over their money to finance his productions, which are usually flops. Then again, the duds aren't necessarily all that bad for him, inasmuch as he can skim off the top a little here and there knowing full well that the IRS is probably not going to investigate the finances of a failed show. But in walks delicate accountant Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) one day, who notices the missing money but agrees to overlook it, leading the duo to mastermind a plan to intentionally produce the worst play ever and use some "creative accounting" to cover up the holes. After Leo decides to have some random hysterics that confused the hell out of me, the two set to work searching for the worst play ever written, hiring the worst director and cast of actors in town, and raising $2 million from little old ladies which will in actuality finance their escape to Rio following the production. This they do, and quite well--finding Franz Liebkind's (Will Ferrell) script, "Springtime for Hitler," which is certain to offend everyone, and hiring Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart), the gayest (literally) director in Broadway, whose creed is that no matter what you're doing, one must always "keep it happy, keep it light, keep it gay." Their master plan set in motion, they await opening night with great anticipation of an enormous failure that will make them wildly rich.

As I said before, this was an extremely strange movie to understand at first--at least for me, having limited experience with musicals in general. I was at first struck with an immense dread within the first five minutes, when I realized that the movie was shot as though the performance were on a stage rather than a film. The actors were literally shouting, while overemphasizing facial expressions and gestures to an extreme degree, which made me feel quite annoyed during the beginning sequences. Once I got past this agitation and initial shock, however, I found it easy to sink into the natural rhythm of the movie and was surprised to discover that I really liked this movie.

Quite simply, it was absolutely hilarious, especially during the scenes with Will Ferrell's German character, Franz, and his rather well choreographed pigeons. The director, Carmen, and his entourage were also hysterical, and I could hardly take notes for laughing so hard during their songs. Much in the same way that I enjoyed the music from Chicago, I loved the songs from this movie. Everything was so well written and witty that I honestly want to see this movie again, and as I am not generally a fan of musicals, I am sure that anyone who is will most certainly like this one. I would even recommend it to those who might be hesitant, because the actual number of songs was minimal, and when they did occur I found them to be catchy and extremely funny.

Seriously, if I could really enjoy The Producers, then I'm sure almost anyone with a satirically minded sense of humor will as well. But if you already like this kind of thing, then I can't recommend more strongly that you don't miss this one.