The Producers (2005)
This was a tough category to fill because even though when I buy DVDs I haven’t seen, they more often than not turn out to be good. If they’re not, I will still usually just suck it up and keep them or eventually give them away. So when looking through my list I had two glaring options, the remake of The Stepford Wives and the film version of the musical The Producers, my gut went for the latter.
Unlike many people who have seen the film, I actually saw (many times) and was a fan of the Broadway production. I never saw the Lane/Broderick version but I have seen many different combination of actors and they were all quite strong and good because the show itself is written so well. So where did this go so wrong?
My first gripe is with Matthew Broderick who’s talents as an actor have diminished over the last decade. It seems ever since he was on Broadway in The Producers, he’s forgotten how to act. Just watch him in any recent film and then compare it to his performance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Honestly it’s quite sad how bad he’s gotten. Nathan Lane is once again essentially playing his own public image; he does that in everything he’s in and for some reason it actually works. But you need someone to balance Lane out! Since Lane and Broderick are in almost every scene of the movie, with Broderick’s bad acting, the camp is just way too much! I’ve seen bootleg copies of the original stage musical with more subtle acting. Surprisingly the only person I felt who worked well in the film adaptation was Will Ferrell, something I never thought I’d say.
My other issue I had with this adaptation was the fact that it didn’t know what it wanted to be. The stage version makes comments on itself because it is a big flashy Broadway musical making fun of Broadway musicals. The film attempts to use those same conventions, pandering to an audience that does not exist and will not respond unlike in a theater. The whole thing then comes across as very flat and cold, almost like it’s been filmed in a void. It’s actually the reverse issue I had with Brooks’ musicalized adaptation of Young Frankenstein. The original Young Frankenstein film made fun of old horror films and successfully commented on that throughout, while the musical tried to do the same onstage without the aid of the cinema techniques. It just flat out didn’t work.
Some cinephiles will argue that it’s impossible to transfer a musical to the screen successfully without it being camp. But it can work and has many times in the past, the most successful version in my opinion I will post about soon. Having been a fan of Mel Brooks films growing up it’s a shame that I wasn’t a fan of this because if done right it could have been as good as the stage musical it was based on. Unfortunately it wasn’t and now it continues to gather dust on my DVD shelf. Oh well.
Day 1: Favorite film
Day 2: Least favorite film
Day 3: Favorite comedy
Day 4: Favorite drama
Day 5: Favorite action
Day 6: Favorite horror
Day 7: Favorite animated feature
Day 8: Favorite thriller
Day 9: Favorite musical
Day 10: Favorite foreign film
Day 11: Favorite kid’s movie
Day 12: Favorite love story
Day 13: Favorite chick flick
Day 14: Favorite documentary
Day 15: Favorite play adaptation
Day 16: Favorite book adaptation
Day 17: Least favorite book adaptation
Day 18: Film that is your guilty pleasure
Day 19: Film that made you cry the hardest
Day 20: Movie with your favorite actress
Day 21: Movie with your favorite actor
Day 22: Movie you wish you could live in
Day 23: Movie that inspires you
Day 24: Movie with your favorite soundtrack
Day 25: Movie with the most beautiful scenery
Day 26: Movie you’re most embarrassed to say you like
Day 27: Movie with your favorite villain
Day 28: Movie with your favorite hero
Day 29: First movie you ever remember watching
Day 30: Last movie you watched
Filed under: Film Tagged: | 30 day meme, Adaptations, Film, Mel Brooks, musicals
