So needless to say that while watching The Music Man my mind was a little warped from the nonsense that was The Human Centipede, but alas, I fought through this charming little Disney musical and unfortunately didn't come out feeling liberated or anything. Now I have the remnants of a crappy and lackluster film swimming through my brain and I still wonder why I haven't been able to get any good sleep lately.
I do have to say that I was surprised how many songs from The Music Man I recognized despite not actually seeing either version of the movie before. For those of who do keep up to date on it, the 2003 version of The Music Man is actually a remake of the 1962 Warner Bros. film of the same name and by remake I mean “really they could have just digitally remastered the damn thing and nobody would have known the fucking difference.” Disney's attempt to modernize pretty much just meant they used better cameras with brighter colors...and got to say they stole a movie from Warner Bros.
The story focuses around a scam artist by the name of Howard Hill (Matthew Broderick) who takes pride in the fact that he comes from Gary, Indiana (which just proves that Disney didn't do their homework when updating this) and finds himself in a little Iowa town that he decides is ripe for the picking. Convincing the locals that the recent introduction of a pool table is going to turn all of the youth into little hooligans, he turns all eyes to him as he preaches the only way to prevent such tomfoolery is to start up a marching band which he can lead and provide all equipment for a fee. Of course, Howard Hill has never led a marching band and although he orders instruments and uniforms, the plan is to skip town when it actually comes time for the kids to play.
Of course, as is the theme of any musical pretty much, Hill's plans get more complicated with Marion, the Librarian (Kristen Chenoweth), who he madly falls in love with...for some reason, it's a musical, you don't need logic, and yadda yadda when the big day comes he has to make the choice between skipping town and sacrificing his love for his freedom or staying put to face the music (ha. ha. I'm proud of that one.). I can't go much into what I thought of the story because it was good enough for a musical designed for children. I don't expect crazy twists and turns that I have think about for an hour so sure, it was fun little story.
As a musical, most of that story is told through song where somehow the entire town finds itself involved in the chorus line even if at the start of the number they were in their bed asleep. I do have a great respect for musicals; I appreciate them as good theatre if done correctly and I hate to say it, I don't feel like this one was done correctly. In the attempt the keep loyal to the original, the numbers played into the strengths of what would have been considered on par in the 1960's. As someone whose parents were barely fetuses at that time, I just didn't have any fun with this.
Here's a rule: when you modernize, it means you try to connect with a different generation at least a LITTLE BIT. Granted you can't change the lyrics of the songs, you can change the standard dialogue just a touch, be a bit more grandiose in your presentation of the musical numbers so people who might not understand the old references would at least become captivated by the shiny eye candy parading across the screen. The 2003 Music Man just missed that and I found myself more bored than anything, even with broadway superstars Broderick and Chenoweth leading the cast, though I have to say that even with their amazing vocal abilities taking center stage, I don't know why it seemed like the instrumentals sounded like they were just being played from the original recordings on an old phonograph. Maybe it's just been too long since I really listened to brass instruments.
On the note of those two, it really felt like they were held back as singers. Another good example of modernizing; let the singers bring their personalities to the music. Good musicians can tell when someone is singing the notes on the page or singing the notes from their heart. It's less robotic, more free-form, you can hear in their transitions from high to low a little bit of their own flare, in the case of Chenoweth it's like a grunt almost (but significantly more attractive...) and the performance becomes fueled by their love of having taken control. This was just too conservative on so many levels, like instead of “dance” they said “move your left leg 6 inches at a 45 degree angle north-northwest then pivot 90 degrees right...” Blah. No fun, just wasn't fun at all.
That being said, it's hard to recommend this film and it's going to get a measly 6 dustbusters out of 10 from me. You want a good Broderick musical, watch The Producers. You want a good example of what Kristen Chenoweth can really do, watch...anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment