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71
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71
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65
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64
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64
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63
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61
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60
Traitor
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
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52
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51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
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43
Meet Dave
42
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36
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36
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35
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35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
31
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26
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24
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19
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15
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15
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

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58
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xx
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75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Momma's Man
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Tell No One
82
Frozen River
81
Trouble the Water
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
76
I Served the King of England
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Girl Cut in Two, A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
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64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Fall, The
63
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63
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62
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62
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62
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62
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61
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61
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61
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61
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61
Brick Lane
58
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58
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57
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56
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56
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55
Save Me
55
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54
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54
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54
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54
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54
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52
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51
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50
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49
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47
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47
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46
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46
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40
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26
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25
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xx
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xx
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xx
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xx
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xx
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xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Producers, The
Universal Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual humor and references
Starring
Nathan Lane,
Matthew Broderick,
Uma Thurman,
Will Ferrell,
Roger Bart,
Gary Beach,
Andrea Martin,
and
Debra Monk
The movie classic that became a Broadway sensation now becomes a movie musical event.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Musical
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Mel Brooks (also 1968 screenplay, 2001 stage play book & lyrics)
Thomas Meehan (also 2001 stage play music)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Susan Stroman
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 16, 2006
Theatrical: December 16, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
134 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture (Musical or Comedy).

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
83
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
It's a classic example of how a movie can be great without, strictly speaking, being good. But when something is this funny, who wants to speak strictly?

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Susan Stroman directed the show on Broadway and what she has done here is photograph that show -- no more, no less. This is good news for anyone who couldn't afford a trip to New York and $100 tickets, but it's a fairly odd approach to cinema.

75
Premiere
Staff (not credited)
Once you drink The Producers' Kool-Aid, it's a thoroughly enjoyable descent into madness.

75
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Producers hits few wrong notes on the big screen.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It was fun, it was funny, it was alive.

70
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
It's too long to be great and it's too square to be great and it's too loud to be great and it finds homosexual effeminacy too funny to ever be called great, but I can't imagine anyone coming out sadder than they went in.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Brooks's sweetness, innocence, and boundless love of the infantile inform everything from the brassy production numbers (capped by an homage to Jailhouse Rock) to the final credits.

70
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
In the end, The Producers is an enjoyable romp, and at times--as when Hitler sings "Heil Myself"--it's hilarious. But it's not transcendent.

70
Time
Richard Schickel
There's no attempt to address the show's endemic weak spots--a slow start and a contrived end. Mostly Stroman just lets it rip. But in some respects the movie is an improvement on the show.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Broderick is a genuine trouper, hoofing his way through his big numbers, while Lane's antics are difficult to resist.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
The result is largely a giddy, goofy delight.

67
Austin Chronicle
Steve Davis
In the world of Mel Brooks, everything is fair game and anything is good for a laugh. God bless Mel Brooks.

67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
The new film is a nauseatingly unsteady medley of brilliance and foolish nonsense.

63
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Enough is enough. Somebody should just stop remaking The Producers.

60
Variety
Todd McCarthy
So determinedly old-fashioned it makes a strong claim to being the best film musical of 1959.

60
Empire
Olly Richards
As a chance to see the celebrated Broadway show with the original cast, this is a treat. As a re-interpretation of a classic, though, it's a disappointment.

50
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Brooks gives himself the last word, appearing onscreen for the first time amid chorus girls oozing PG-13 pulchritude. "Go home!" he says. "It's over!" Could he be referring to his career?

50
Miami Herald
Christine Dolan
The chemistry is intact, but performances that were reaching-for-the-balcony big on Broadway haven't been scaled back a bit for a more intimate, up-close medium.

50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
Can't find its rhythm and stride. It plays it far too safe and slick.

50
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
If you have seen the play, especially if you've seen it with the original cast, treasure the memory and protect it. The movie will attack it like a virus.

50
Film Threat
Rory L. Aronsky
It's the curse of overacting and overdone shtick that does them in.

50
Newsweek
David Ansen
The theatricality is off the charts. Lane aims for the balconies; Broderick tones it down for the camera a bit.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
The best two performances belong to Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell. For the film to work, though, the two best roles should belong to Tony-winning Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the title roles.

50
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The accountant in Bloom would probably approve of the new Producers: It's an efficient extension of a popular brand. In theory, what's not to like? In reality, the whole schmear.

50
LA Weekly
Scott Foundas
The musical film version of The Producers is, for better or worse, a faithful record of the stage production, adhering to the same if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it philosophy that informed the recent "Rent."

50
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
The Producers is a movie based on a play based on a movie about a play. And that's probably the funniest thing about it.

50
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
The film falls short even as a record of Broderick and Lane's crowd-pleasing rapport: Both have done the show so many times that every scrap of life is gone.

50
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Stroman should have studied the original Producers that Brooks directed in 1968, with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. It answers the question "Where did they go right?"

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Most of the bits and performances have a hard time making the transition from stage to screen.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
This is the stage experience documented on film, from the perspective of someone sitting front row centre watching actors pitching for the back rows of the balcony.

40
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Watching The Producers is simply exhausting.

40
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
Whereas the original film is gleefully crass and energetically paced, the movie musical, weighing in at a robust two-plus hours, is bloated and self-satisfied. Whatever spectacle the stage musical possessed to make it such a box-office behemoth fails to transfer to the screen.

40
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Ms. Thurman is the one bit of genuine radiance in this aggressively and pointlessly shiny, noisy spectacle.

38
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The Producers on screen, as a musical, does not work. It is not very funny. It doesn't look right. It's depressing.

25
New York Post
Kyle Smith
From bad to worse - Even in verse - The Producers moves like a hearse -Mildness and blandness -Mugging like madness -
Who knew that "Rent" would win this fight? -
Murdering a genre's just not all right!

20
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The Producers is nightmarish, in its febrile way, a head-bangingly primitive version of an overrated Broadway show that grew out of a clumsy 1968 movie with an inflated reputation.
20
Slate
David Edelstein
There are no real people in The Producers --only actors laboring to dispel whatever magic they once were thought to possess. The director, Susan Stroman, has brought the Broadway smash to the screen (where it began, almost 40 years ago) with cataclysmic results.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 136 User Votes
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