Some stories get away with murder (or murderous concepts) due to the music and performances that go with the production. In this case though, with a dark comedy written by Mel Brooks (based on the musical of the same name), the performance from Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick ended up with a memorable musical that reminds us all the kind of business being a producer meant.
And yes, there is no effort to romanticize the profession of being a producer as presented here in “The Producers”. We are given a nice view of how to start it out when neurotic accountant Leo Bloom (played by Matthew Broderick) grabbed the opportunity to become a producer under the tutelage of the man who was originally his client in the accounting firm that he left behind, Max Bialystock (played by Nathan Lane). This despite the shade scheme that Max discovered when Leo shared an accounting principle – that losses meant less restrictions and scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service. In short, less chances of an audit the moment you declared a loss.
From Accounting Principle to a Production Scheme
Bloom had reservations of course being neurotic and afraid that their scheme be found out. But its a compromise he needed to accept just to escape the accounting job in which he is already unhappy with and fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a producer, endearingly expressed in his number “I Want to be a Producer”.
Bialystock is only too happy to spearhead the plan of producing the biggest flop just so he and Leo could keep the money. Funding is not a problem as long as there are senile women that he can dupe out of their money. Besides he expected young, beautiful Ulla (played by Uma Thurman) to keep him company in his office until casting for the chosen musical begins.
And in this case, it seems that Ulla was the ultimate reward for Leo for all that trouble he got from getting Franz Liebkin (played by Will Ferrell) signed to signing up Roger de Bris (played by Gary Beach). Franz got them to sing something neo-Nazi while Max advised Leo to play along to Roger’s flirtations. If not for Ulla, he might have snapped again just like when Max was timing him for his various explanations.
“There’s No Business Like Showbusiness”
Musicals like this make me go skeptical if the producers’ career path is for me. But there goes the beauty of producing something because you can never tell what does the market want. The same thing can be said about what happened on the predicted flop.
I find the conundrum proposed here somewhat technical but the bottomline is this – embezzlement of funds. Something that got them in trouble later on because they can’t embezzle any. How can you pocket funds and declare a loss when it’s all over the papers that your latest production is a hit? Then again, it’s a different time presented here with the ticket prices still differently priced. Also, the market interpreted the musical wrong due to a minor tweak in the performance courtesy of Roger.
And when it’s time to pay for their crimes (pun intended), at least Leo was still there to be responsible. Vague terms would be mentioned here since not all readers may have seen how everything played out. There is unpredictability hanging in the balance and it would be a lot better for you to find out the moment you try watching it for yourself.
The Heart and Soul
Broderick as the heart and soul of this film adaptation is undeniable. He is cute and likeable, 2 qualities that made him endearing to the viewing public. And those same qualities helped establish the point that this version is trying to drive at – that following your dreams included surviving a series of nightmares.
This is not to downplay the excellent performances of Nathan Lane as the producer that served as Leo’s mentor and Uma Thurman as the heavily-accented Ulla (when Ulla sang her “composition”, she reminds me of Anna Netrebko trying to sing in English, almost similar accents except that Netrebko is Russian). And I enjoyed watching Will Ferrell too as the Hitler fan-turned-playwright. The gay couple? Hilarious. But of course, if you have supporting cast members that inadvertently performing better than the lead stars, something might have been miscast just like how Roger cast miscast later in the musical.
Also, it’s a musical that focused on a plot with well-developed characters and sympathetic situations. Broderick’s voice is quite average but it fitted his character as neurotic bordering on constipated. The thin voice at the early performances portrayed Leo as one who’s academically gifted but not very street-smart. In between song numbers, he’d go into panic mode and starts breaking down. Even the breakdown moments are very controlled, it makes you wonder how much more time he needed before he can sing again for the next numbers. The moment he sang the songs at the last half of the film, there is some development but not to developed that he’s forget to be in character.
Layers and Layers of Satire
No worker ever from the entertainment industry was ever discouraged from satirizing how work is. Some folks will get it and some don’t. At least you still get to express yourself and be upfront about the things that you see in your industry. Besides, some writers find it a lot easier to write about things that they know first-hand. Otherwise, it will not sound so credible.
The settings may have been Broadway but you may have read or heard stories about producers mingling with people they don’t exactly like for the sake of getting funding for their next project. There’s a whole lot of ass-kissing going on plus some compromises taken. It makes you think twice if the same compromise was taken in order for this film adaptation to come true (just a speculation).
Anyway, it’s a musical I highly recommend to everyone else to purchase in case you’d like a physical DVD to put in your player.
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