MOVIE NIGHT TRAFFIC LIGHT

Brooklyn Navy Yard (Distributor: Universal Pictures)

$45M

Susan Stroman (Contact, You’ve Got Mail)

Mel Brooks (1968 - The Producers, Young Frankenstein), JonathanSanger (Vanilla Sky)

Mel Brooks (1968 - The Producers, Young Frankenstein), Thomas Meehan (Annie)

Nathan Lane – Max Bialystock (The Birdcage)

Matthew Broderick – Leo Bloom (Lion King, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)

Uma Thurman – Ulla (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction)

Will Ferrell – Franz Liebkind (Elf, Anchorman)

What do Jessica Simpson and Will Ferrell have in common…they’ve both strutted around in short-shorts in their recent movies. 

Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) is a washed-up producer whose shows are always cancelled on opening night.  But his luck changes when he is visited by a completely neurotic accountant, Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick), who devises a scheme to make them both filthy rich.  All they have to do is to first raise 2 million dollars then produce the worst show in history.  When no one wants to see the show, they pocket the money and live happily ever after.  So, they purchase the rights to a play written by an escaped Nazi turned pigeon trainer (Will Ferrell) called “Springtime With Hitler”.  Then they hire the gayest director in town (Gary Beach).  And finally, they hire a Swedish bombshell, Ulla (Uma Thurman), with all looks and no brains as the star.  Sounds like a perfect loosing combination…until a series of mishaps turns the play into an immediate comedic success and lands Max in jail while Leo and Ulla sail off into the sunset.  Ultimately, Leo and Ulla return to save Max from a lifetime in prison.

Everything in this production is completely over-the-top.  The make up is overdone, the acting is extremely deliberate, the gay guys are overly flamboyant and the characters even play directly to the camera…just like a Broadway show.  This movie brings Broadway to those who can’t actually go and see a musical on Broadway.  As far as movie musicals go, this one is funny and would be highly entertaining, if only it were about 6 scenes shorter.  There is only so much “musical” the average movie-goer can take, and this is just a bit too much.  If you really want to see a musical, this is a great movie to go see.  If you want to see an entertaining movie, enjoy the first two hours, then gut out the last 15 minutes. 

On the Movie Night Traffic Light on a scale of GREEN meaning “Go – it’s a must see”, YELLOW meaning “Caution – it’s okay” and RED meaning “No - stop don’t do it."

We rate The Producers YELLOW.  Caution – this is great if you want to see a musical, but remember, this on is long and there is no intermission so stock up on popcorn before the movie starts.