In its current incarnation, The Producers is a screen adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical of the same moniker, which in turn was adapted from Brooks's identically-titled directorial debut. The new movie stars Nathan Lane as washed-up Broadway producer Max Bialystock and an uninspired Matthew Broderick as Leopold Bloom, his snivelling neurotic accountant and partner in crime.

With Mel Brooks on board as screenwriter, this version of The Producers remains true to the original, in as much as all the characters are there - some with expanded roles such as Ulla (Uma Thurman). Of course the essence of the film remains too: the farcical 'Springtime for Hitler', the play our protagonists produce with high costs and hopes for failure. Herein lies the premise of the film: Leo discovers that by producing a sure-fire flop, Max can earn more than if he produced a hit. So they set about searching for the worst script, director, and cast they can find. What they uncover is Will Ferrell as outrageous former Nazi Franz Liebkind, and Gary Breach as the über-gay director, Roger de Bris. The former provides the script, the latter the prancing and dancing Hitler performance. Needless to say their harebrained scheme backfires.

If you find comedy that relies on exploiting archaic stereotypes funny, then you will laugh heartily during this film as the cringe-worthy puns come thick and fast. Suffice to say, you will either love Mel Brooks' humour and find it right on the button, or you will reject it as cheap, cheesy and childish. Its format harks back to the musicals of the 30s and 40s, and frankly so does its humour: there's something remarkably unfunny about lampooning Hitler as an overtly effeminate homosexual, not too mention Bialystock's benefactors - an army of little ol' ladies desperate for sex - hardly side-splitting stuff.

One of the best parts about this film is Uma Thurman, whose arrival on screen as the leggy Swedish bombshell singing 'If you've got it, flaunt it' certainly captivates the eye. It's just a pity her hackneyed character, a dumb Swedish blonde with an overactive libido and shockingly bad accent, does nothing more than irritate.

As a musical, The Producers is excellent, it has wonderfully catchy songs that will lodge in your head instantly, and that recur at the appropriate moments. While Susan Stroman's well-choreographed routines run smoothly with the storyline, the set designs look like they just placed cameras in the theatre and filmed the show, leaving the film devoid of cinematic quality. If you are a fan of the original, enjoy Mel Brooks' style of humour, and have a penchant for musicals, then you will find this film highly entertaining. For others there is a certain irony that will become apparent, that the producers of this film felt that Bialystock and Bloom's scheme might just actually work in real life too. But it seems some folk over at the Golden Globes might have put pay to that.

Rated 12A (see IFCO website for details)
The Producers is released on 23rd December 2005.
The Producers – Official website