Okay, the weird part about answering this is that it's making realize there's really only one central thing that draws me to The Producers, and that's the love story of it. I swear to god I don't mean that in a shippy way, I mean how it's a story about two lost, lonely men who find each other and miraculously bring out the best in each other.

Leo has ambition and brains, but he's a doormat. Max is quick-witted and charismatic, but he's stuck in old patterns - both with his business choices and his unwillingness to trust anyone. When they meet they are both unhappy and alone, and they forge a friendship not just because of their common motives, but because of how they immediately change each other. Max pushes Leo to take risks and have confidence in himself. Leo brings out Max's soft side, the side that feels genuinely sorry for scaring the daylights out of Leo and wants to make it better.

And that's just the beginning. By the end of the story, they've changed so much that their motives have changed. They both start out wanting money, luxury, women, and fame. Leo is the only one who gets a portion of that, and he abandons it all when he realizes that Max's companionship is more important to him than any of that. Max's arc is a little more subtle, but it's just as profound. He isn't the kind of person who would ever dream of sharing the spotlight, or the profits. He has business associates, not friends. Leo is the exception to all of his rules. He doesn't even realize how much Leo means to him until he loses him.

Leo Bloom from The Producers is autistic!