It's time for members of the WGA to dutifully trudge out and see a batch of films before casting ballots for film writing. And indeed I've started trudging. And the experience is the usual mixture of fulfilling and dismaying.
But I purposely scheduled seeing THE PRODUCERS for when I just wanted to have a good time. Yes, I know the original backwards and forwards, and I saw the show on Broadway a few times (friends kept getting cast as replacements), but I really wasn't quite prepared for the pleasure I got from the film.
Most of the old jokes are there, and there are tons of new ones, tossed on with all the casualness of a sloppy waiter putting a little too much pepper on your order. Relieved of the effort of following the jokes I already knew, I kept my eyes on the new stuff -- the little quotes from old movies, the inside references, details in the scenery. God in heaven, there were even jokes in the orchestrations! I can't remember the last time I found orchestrations funny.
I'm sure there are well-reasoned opinions out there from some grumps who refuse to be amused. I'm not one of them. I think maybe the last time I laughed this hard at a movie was THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, and that was a different kind of laughter (and indeed a very different kind of movie).
But I purposely scheduled seeing THE PRODUCERS for when I just wanted to have a good time. Yes, I know the original backwards and forwards, and I saw the show on Broadway a few times (friends kept getting cast as replacements), but I really wasn't quite prepared for the pleasure I got from the film.
Most of the old jokes are there, and there are tons of new ones, tossed on with all the casualness of a sloppy waiter putting a little too much pepper on your order. Relieved of the effort of following the jokes I already knew, I kept my eyes on the new stuff -- the little quotes from old movies, the inside references, details in the scenery. God in heaven, there were even jokes in the orchestrations! I can't remember the last time I found orchestrations funny.
I'm sure there are well-reasoned opinions out there from some grumps who refuse to be amused. I'm not one of them. I think maybe the last time I laughed this hard at a movie was THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, and that was a different kind of laughter (and indeed a very different kind of movie).