This is the first time I’ve seen this movie and I did find it very entertaining. I did see a bit of the original movie beforehand, though, and couldn’t help but feel that Matthew Broderick wasn’t quite as good as Gene Wilder, at least at first. But I sort of appreciated the fact that there wasn’t quite as much shouting.
I did really enjoy the songs in the movie and the first one did a good job of showing the situation that Max’s character was in. And I couldn’t help but feel there was more than a hint of realism in the song where Leo’s at his office. Being unhappy in work and feeling like you’re doing the same thing over and over is, I think, something that a lot of people can empathise with. But I have to say, that final dancer really creeped me out. Especially right towards the end of the song, where Leo leaves his old boss behind.
I found the lengths they went to in order to get the flop they needed to be quite incredible, really. I couldn’t help but laugh in the scene involving Franz Liebkind. I particularly enjoyed Leo’s responses to the requests that were made; and Max’s responses to those. And the fact that they put their middle fingers up during the oath, but had to keep switching to their forefingers whenever Liebkind looked at them.
I did think the costumes and choreography worked really well in this movie. I especially liked Ulla’s outfits, both when she was in the office and when she was on the stage. I don’t think I found the romance between her and Leo all that engaging, though; I really wasn’t sure how much she understood and her character seemed to shift between very naive/innocent and very adult. And I really don’t know how she managed to interpret ‘tidy up’ as ‘paint the whole office white.’ Though I was amused when Leo and Max reacted very realistically – ‘Ooops, wrong office.’
I did feel there was a lot going on visually in the movie and that there was a lot of comedy, so I felt that developing the relationship between the characters fell rather by the wayside. By the end of the movie, I would have like to see more foreshadowing of the ending speech.
I also did feel that this movie dragged on a bit. There were about three different points that I thought the movie might end and where I thought it would be better ending at those points.
I felt this movie relied more on its humour and visuals rather than developing the relationships between the core characters. It was entertaining to watch and did have some good songs…plus, I did like the scenes that showed the play ‘Springtime For Hitler’. I enjoyed the movie for what it was.
Ink of Blood 