Singing and comedy, two of the hardest skills to acquire and perfect, are showcased with much gusto in this two-hour comedy musical about two honest professionals who try their hand at conwork to earn some money. Matthew Broderick plays a middle-aged accountant at the bottom of his company’s totem pole.
Nathan Lane plays an over-the-hill movie producer. The latter is losing money and its the former’s task to document it. Together, they come up with a plan to make some money. To do it, they acquire the rights for a ludicrious play, “Springtime for Hitler”, from a ridiculous ex-Nazi, hire a flamboyant director and his crew of gay and not so gayish men, and assemble a cast led by a Swedish bombshell. Together, they put on a stage performance that does incredibly well, to their chagrin. Trouble comes by way of the law, but all well that ends well.
This movie was quite entertaining to watch. It bombed at the theatres, as the total take was barely enough to cover the salaries of true-life half-Swedish actress Uma Thurman. But the movie has picked up steam in the DVD market.
It is family friendly with good doses of various sorts of comedy: sarcasm, wit, irony, slapstick, and plain ludicrousness that inspires laughter and probably a lot of exasperation from any viewer. The music itself is quite impressive. The two male leads are known singers, but to see Uma Thurman sing and dance was in itself worth the rental price of this movie. Most importantly, no mushy romance music/scenes. I highly recommend it.
Cast
- Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock
- Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom
- Will Ferrell as Franz Liebkind
- Uma Thurman as Ulla
- Gary Beach as Roger De Bris
- Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia
- Jon Lovitz as Mr. Marks
- Michael McKean as Prison Trustee
- David Huddleston as Judge
- Eileen Essell as Hold Me-Touch Me
- Debra Monk as Lick Me-Bite Me
- Andrea Martin as Kiss Me-Feel Me
- John Barrowman as show starter
Tags: The Producers