A dry movie that requires effort to laugh

Rating: 6/10 (28 December 2005)

I saw this movie in anticipation of the new one and the Broadway play. It was disappointing after hearing about how great the play was. because Mel Brooks didn't use as many jokes as he normally does, and the two stars of the movie, Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, were not as good as they could be. Neither of them had very many quirks, except for Mostel's sexual quirk, which is almost completely ignored in the whole movie except the beginning. A couple of rare moments in the movie shined, however, with Mel Brooks-type quirks. One example is the audition for the part of Adolf Hitler with many hysterical freaks trying to do what they think is excellent but truly pathetic. It ends with LSD's audition, which is funny as $#**! The other part is the Busby Berkely opening of the musical, making fun of Nazis, etc. However, towards the end the movie starts to seem more like a semi-adventure movie, which doesn't fit any of the movie's makers at all.