At 40, Matthew Broderick is pale, fleshy, and a little tired. "Virility" is not the first word he brings to mind. And of course virility is the signature trait of Prof. Harold Hill, the strutting, beaming, cosmically charming hero of "The Music Man." So Broderick was a far from ideal casting choice. Yet if the director, choreographer, and d.p. had been more sensitive to Broderick's own brand of charm -- this is Ferris Bueller we're talking about -- something new and interesting might have come of this "Music Man." But the direction is slack, the choreography uninspired (especially in Broderick's case, even with an obvious dance double), and the cinematography/visual composition just plain weird (it often looks like a truncated pan-and-scan of a Cinemascope film, which of course it can't possibly be). As a result, this film contains what may be history's worst rendering of "Ya Got Trouble."
Broderick needed a friend, and he never found one here.
And who the blazes decided that we needed another Victor-Garber boogie man -- as the bulbously pompous Mayor Shinn, for crying out loud? Garber's Shinn is just plain creepy (and this actor is capable of much better work). The rest of the cast is quite okay and the kid who plays Winthrop something more. Far above them all is the ever-surprising Kristin Chenoweth, with her oddly beautiful, sensitive face and extraordinarily nuanced singing voice. But none of their efforts is quite enough.
These Disney musical rehashes have gotten a surprising amount of praise. I've found them all listless and amateurish, as if none of their creators had ever heard of Vincente Minelli, Stanley Donen or Rouben Mamoulian. These new would-be musical geniuses should lock themselves in a room for a month with "The Bandwagon," "Singin' in the Rain" and "Love Me Tonight" before they even think of trying again.
Broderick needed a friend, and he never found one here.
And who the blazes decided that we needed another Victor-Garber boogie man -- as the bulbously pompous Mayor Shinn, for crying out loud? Garber's Shinn is just plain creepy (and this actor is capable of much better work). The rest of the cast is quite okay and the kid who plays Winthrop something more. Far above them all is the ever-surprising Kristin Chenoweth, with her oddly beautiful, sensitive face and extraordinarily nuanced singing voice. But none of their efforts is quite enough.
These Disney musical rehashes have gotten a surprising amount of praise. I've found them all listless and amateurish, as if none of their creators had ever heard of Vincente Minelli, Stanley Donen or Rouben Mamoulian. These new would-be musical geniuses should lock themselves in a room for a month with "The Bandwagon," "Singin' in the Rain" and "Love Me Tonight" before they even think of trying again.