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The Producers

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The Producers (2005)

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Reviews Counted:148

Fresh:75

Rotten:73

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Despite the rich source material, The Producers has a stale, stagy feel more suited to the theater than the big screen.

Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $19,151,907

Synopsis: This remake of Mel Brooks' 1968 film features Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the roles that they originated in the smash Broadway adaptation of the original film. Broadway producer Max... This remake of Mel Brooks' 1968 film features Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the roles that they originated in the smash Broadway adaptation of the original film. Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Lane) is famous for his spectacular opening night flops. Leopold Bloom (Broderick) is an uptight accountant who virtually discovers gold while reviewing Max's books. When Leo realizes that you can actually make more money with a flop than with a hit, the two team up and begin a search for both the worst script and the worst director they can find to ensure failure. The script selection seems easy when the duo stumble upon SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER, an homage to the Fuhrer penned by Franz Liebkind (Will Ferrell), a German sympathetic to the Nazi cause. Convinced that the script will incite outrage, the duo needs a bad director to seal the deal. Campy director Roger DeBris (Gary Beach) and his assistant (Roger Bart) fit the bill perfectly. But when their scheme fails, Max and Leo find themselves with the worst possible outcome: a hit. To make matters worse, Franz is just a little peeved that Hitler was depicted disrespectfully--and he has a gun. Will Max and Leo survive the playwright's wrath? Will they go to jail for cooking the books? And will Leo ever submit to the advances of sexy Swedish receptionist/actress Ulla (Uma Thurman)? Directed by stage director Susan Stroman, making her feature film directorial debut, this riotous romp features lots of laughs from the major players, as well as brief appearances by Jon Lovitz, Michael McKean, and Richard Kind. Lane and Broderick make it easy to understand why the show was an unprecedented hit on Broadway, and Ferrell is a scene-stealer as Liebkind. [More]

Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell

Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Andrea Martin, Gary Beach, Roger Bart

Director: Susan Stroman

Director: Susan Stroman
Studio: Universal Pictures

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1 - 4 of 5

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Reviews for The Producers

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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Barely adequate.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/17/06
Paul Byrnes
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Laugh til' you drop - the musical version of The Producers is finally here. When Mel Brooks conceived his comedy satire, the subject matter of ridiculing Hitler was brave to say the least. And nearly 40 years later, it still leaves bite marks.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/11/06
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Finally, in its third incarnation, it's perfect... The story flows better on film and you can see the nuance as opposed to the broad caricature projected to the back row.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/15/05
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

Leave the classics alone, Mel. You made three perfect films in your career, more than most people ever could, and now you've remade one of them badly.

Full Review Source: Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/19/05
Moriarty
Moriarty
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews

Maybe they should call it "The Do-Overs," "The Remakers" or simply, "We're Out of Ideas."

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
12/25/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

[T]he most recent Producers is a clone of a clone, and what it adds in song and dance it loses in brevity and, as is so often the case, wit.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/27/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

It's not all it was on stage and it's not all it could be on film. The result is a often jolly, highly-polished compromise, which can't be what anyone intended. Or wanted.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
12/18/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

My suggestion: rent the original

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
01/13/06
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

God bless Mel Brooks.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/31/05
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle

After a slow start, produces some of the year's biggest laughs.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
12/20/05
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Despite a certain manic energy, the comic schtick between Lane and Broderick feels as stale as last year's croissants; you can tell they've done these jokes a thousand times.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/13/05
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC

Not so much a film as an awkwardly framed souvenir of the Broadway hit musical, The Producers needs a live audience like a candle needs oxygen.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/31/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
12/24/05
Boston Phoenix

Brooks' Broadway blockbuster may prove that blustery bad taste is timeless ... Ferrell is so ferociously over the top, I hope the other cast members all got rabies shots.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
12/30/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

It's hard to imagine any but the most hardened grouch being able to walk away from the effort without a smile.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/16/05
Wade Major
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine

Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the Broadway show, has shot the movie as if it were the show ...

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
12/27/05
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

Little more than the show audiences paid to see in New York.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
01/10/06
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

The new movie is a success, that I know. How much of a success, I cannot be sure. Someone who has seen the original once or twice, or never, would be a better judge.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/15/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Very little of the stage show's fizziness has found its way into a strangely pallid-looking picture.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
12/15/05
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Stroman keeps things lively, and Lane, in particular, comes into his own. He mugs too much for my taste but then again, The Producers isn't exactly subtle. It wouldn't be The Producers if it were.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
12/16/05
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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