Trilingua

The Producers (2005)

I don’t know how to approach this film. I think for a first film to review it’s particularly difficult, with all the layers, a play within a play within a film, actors acting as actors acting as actors; there’s not many other examples I could think of, except film adaptations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Perhaps this is the first pro in the film’s favour; for the most part it is as if a camera is filming a theatre production (of course this is only meant in a performing sense, obviously the scene changes are rather quick and the sets are pretty realistic for the theatre), as it has kept the over-the-top, carnivalesque acting.

The problem is, the best point may also be the worst. Having never (yet) seen The Producers on tour, it’s not completely clear to me what the main differences between it and the film are; however some sections just felt like they were trying too hard, as if the original wasn’t funny enough and needed a little boost from, not wanting to name names Will Ferrell, certain actors. Meeting Fritz on the roof of his residence was perhaps the only scene I disliked through the whole two hours. The singing, the dancing, the acting - nice, enjoyable, fun, though what quite blatantly lacked these three qualities was the army of neo-nazi pigeons. Mechanical birds moving around in cages, joining in with the songs, chirping and dancing, was something I didn’t not expect, nor want, to see. I just don’t understand how a film that had been up to that point, and was from then on, quite sophisticated and clever, with all its grandeur and dramatic Broadway theatre, throws in such an unnecessary cheap laugh for the kids.

Anyway, these reviews aren’t meant to go on too long, not if I’m going to be doing 150 of them. In summary then, I found The Producers to be a great laugh and a nice start to the run-down of comedies. As far as the film is concerned, terrific acting, singing and dancing by all, and I recommend it to everyone as a wholesome family film. As a musical it is right up there for me amongst Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera; I shall pass final judgement once I have seen it on stage.

I suppose I should now give it a rating out of 10 actually…

7/10.