This post for movie review Sunday is going to be really short. Last night's film was The Producers starring Matthew Broderick (Leo Bloom) and Nathan Lane (Max Bialystock).
Leo Bloom goes to the offices of Max Bialystock in his job as an accountant. While he's looking at the books, he makes an offhand comment about how a losing Broadway show could make more money for the producer than a hit. Although it's illegal, Max tries to talk Leo into joining him in a scheme to do just that. Leo refuses, but when he returns to his EDJ (Evil Day Job), he reconsiders. The two then set out to find the worst play ever (Springtime for Hitler), hire the worst director and cast the worst actors. There's no way their scheme could fail. Unless people love the play.
This movie is from 2005, long enough ago that if I'd heard Mel Brooks was involved in it, I'd forgotten. If I had remembered, I would have stayed away from the film. Probably. I might have given it a shot since it did so well on Broadway. Anyway, I'm not a Mel Brooks fan. I've tried. With one exception (Spaceballs), I just plain don't find him funny. Unfortunately for me, The Producers evoked a typical reaction from me when it comes to Mel Brooks: excruciating boredom.
I sat through this whole movie. I don't know why. Maybe because I kept expecting it to get better. IMO, it didn't. I wandered away from the screen several times. Toward the end, after the you-know-what hit the fan, I actually said out loud, "How much longer is this thing going to last?" That's never a positive sign. Neither is lamenting the day when movies used to be 90 minutes and not a horrible 135 minutes. :-)
If you normally enjoy Mel Brooks, you'll probably like this movie. If he's not your cup of tea, you'll be like me, bored stiff. My one consolation is that I did not pay theater ticket prices to see this on Broadway.
My rating: 1 star.
