I agree with you. I like the stage production better -- it is actually LESS saccharine and sentimental than the movie version. The songs "No Way to Stop It" and "How Can LoveSurivive" are actually very important to the theme since they directly address the selfish self-centered philosophy of narcissism in both Elsa and Max that the captain does not believe in and movitates him to take his family out of Austria. They are not "charm" songs but important character and thematic songs, IMHO.
