"The Producers"

I saw a screening of the movie version of Mel Brooks's musical tonight. I sat there with a big dumb grin on my face the whole way through. At least a half dozen production numbers received rounds of applause from the audience. Along with about two-thirds of the crowd, I sat all the way through the credits to hear all the additional songs, such as Will Ferrell as Franz Liebkind, lunatic playwright of Springtime for Hitler, singing a mellow Jack Johnson-style ballad version of "Der Guten Tag Hop Clop." And a five second cameo at the very end of the credits by Mr. Brooks himself brought shouts of approval.

On the other hand, the guy in front of me didn't laugh once and left less than a second after the credits started rolling. (He probably liked "Rent.") This is a very old-fashioned musical, both a parody of and a tribute to old Broadway. To my mind, when it comes to musicals, "old-fashioned" is a synonym for "good," but if you don't agree, watch out.

Or if you are the kind of person who can't understand why they remade the 1968 movie version (hint: the new film has lots more singin' and dancin'), then it won't be for you.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer