Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Will Ferrell, Uma Thurman
Cert: 12A
Released: 26th December 2005

Max Bialystock (Lane) used to be a great Broadway producer but something has gone wrong; every production he now finances turns into a one performance flop.

His latest disaster is a musical adaptation of Hamlet called Funny Boy and, as it closes straight after its premier performance, he is visited by an accountant, Leo Bloom (Broderick), to balance his lop-sided books. During the audit Bloom hypothesises that it would be possible to make more money by over-financing a dead-cert box office flop than by genuinely financing a successful one.

Bialystock decides to turn the hypothesis into reality by raising two million dollars and, with Bloom's help, carefully selecting all the wrong elements for a Broadway show. The risk being that if it's a success then they could both go to prison.

But they uncover a script called Springtime For Hitler which is adapted into a gay romp in which the Nazis win World War Two. Surely this universally offensive premise has the ingredients for disaster?

This is the film adaptation of the successful stage musical adaptation of the classic 1968 film about putting on a disastrous stage musical. Okay?

I shall try to be as objective as possible but being a fan of the original and having seen the stage show last year with Lee Evans in the role of Leo Bloom it will be tough not to make comparisons.

It's not as good - d'oh! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. The story hasn't changed and the jokes are as risible as ever: that Mel Brookes' clever sassiness is carried over perfectly into the accompanying tunes. The singing, choreography, sets and performances cannot, really, be faulted but I watch it having had my expectations elevated beyond reasonable levels.

The stage production was exceptional; probably the funniest show I have ever seen (and that was with Nathan Lane off sick having been replaced by the understudy) so the film had a lot to live up to. The main problem I had with it was that it was filmed, mostly, as if the action was still being set on stage so the photography was quite simplistic and unengaging. The performances came across as over the top - film being a medium that picks up every nuance; the stage being a place where extrovert motions are necessary to reach the back of the theatre. The songs were lip-synched (out of necessity) and were done so quite badly in places. Pratfalls, double-takes and gurning were all performed with a live audience in mind to supply a laughter track so when the laughter is a mere titter in the cinema then their tomfoolery is almost embarrassing.

Overall, the cinematic version just kills the rawness of the live show. There is a danger to watching theatre - someone could mess up - everyone is on their toes and, if it's a good show, then the dramatic atmosphere is bounced between the cast and audience. The film was sterile in comparison with 'big' names added for draw factor rather than their talent. Ferrell is on autopilot as the Nazi sympathiser, Franz Liebkind, and his voice is seriously inferior to his co-stars. The one glowing element above all else is the presence of Uma Thurman who delivers a superb performance as Swedish actress Ulla combining sexiness, naivety, flexibility and fantastic vocals.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very funny film with very funny songs and all the performances are very good (moreover from the co-stars) but they're not as good. Something is lost during the transition from live to celluloid and, of course, it's always easier to see the negative than the positive. So if you haven't seen the stage musical of the film about putting on a disastrous stage musical then you probably won't be as disappointed as I was of the film of the stage musical of the … you get it by now, right?