The Producers- **1/2

I really wanted to like this. But, unfortunately, I've seen the original and I know how good it is. Or maybe it's because for the second time this year, I'’ve seen someone attempt (and fail) to fill Gene Wilder's shoes. Or maybe my distaste for the way Broadway has just been remaking movies into uninspired musicals had something to do with it. Either way, as much as I tried to like The Producers, I just couldn'’t.

This time out, Nathan Lane (doing a rather credible Zero Mostel) is Broadway producer Max Bialystock, and Matthew Broderick (doing his lines almost exactly like Gene Wilder) is accountant Leo Bloom. They come up with a scheme to put on the worst play ever made, "Springtime for Hitler,"” and run off with the backer's money. Of course, complications ensue.

And that'’s what made the original so funny. The scenes zip by quickly, barely leaving you with a second before launching into another ridiculous character or situation. This time each scene has to have a song, which drags the joke out until it becomes tedious. The songs are uninspired, and mostly boring. There isn't a single one I'’d want to listen to again outside of the movie (I didn't particularly want to hear them in the movie, really). The one saving grace is the scene where they recruit flamboyant director Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) and his assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart). This is a hilarious scene, and truthfully updates the original. Much of the rest of the movie just plays as a bad photocopy.

The other annoying thing is what they add. Ulla (Uma Thurman) is no longer the pointless secretary, but now a full-fledged romantic interest for Bloom. De Bris now plays Hitler onstage, and LSD is cut out completely (not to mention his hilarious song). A scene of Bloom at his accounting firm is clever, but like the rest of the songs goes on too long and slows down the film's momentum. And the end… The end goes on probably 20 minutes longer than it needs to.

But to completely compare it to the original isn't entirely fair. The movie is not without laughs of its own. Will Ferrell is funny as Franz, even if his scenes are hampered by animatronic pigeons. As I mentioned above, the film comes to life whenever De Bris and Ghia are onscreen. But these bursts are few and far between.

I haven'’t seen the stage version, and really don'’t have any plans to. Maybe what they're trying for in the movie plays better on stage, but as a film it doesn't work. It has very little zing, and feels like it's floundering around for its over two hour running time. Instead of winning the audience over, The Producers becomes just one more remakes in a sea of remakes. Maybe they should just start re-releasing the originals?

--reviewed by Brandon