How can this be. Jerry Seinfeld, king of comedy, his directorial debut and it only amuses a certain demographic. Why would he do this is it was intentional. Why would he cut out his base audience so one can only think it was not intentional and here we are. OK, where do I start…
Seinfeld is now 70 years old. He wrote, directed and produced this one. He is comedy royalty and one of the greatest to have ever graced a stage. In a league by himself but his new Netflix movie Unfrosted is a tough one to swallow. I am perplexed. Set in 1963, it is the story of rival cereal companies Post and Kellogg’s who were battling to be the first to create a processed food product – a pastry – that will change fast breakfast eating. They spy on each other and the humor should ensue. Story sounds great, right? It was Pop-Tart in the end. Great topic, yes, so I was looking forward to see what he did with it. Well….
The jokes are about three to one hitting. The gags are weak and the who film is overall off though well shot and paced. BUT. The film as a fun cast no doubt (whose names will make you smile just as you read them listed now; Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, Bill Burr as well as Max Greenfield, Christian Slater and Sarah Cooper. Despite all of them, this movie could not rally to real humor. One review (Chicago Sun-Times) calls it one of the decades worst movies. (Yes, decade)
So how bad is it? Well…
This movie is not good. It’s a mixture of fact and not fact. It has a satire feel but it’s not Coen Brothers satire. Seinfeld plays a fictional character in the lead role – a Bob Cabana who is a high level person at Kellogg’s. He brings on. board his old friend played by Melissa’s McCarthy who is also a fictional character so at this point – you neve rknow what is real and not but it’s not billed as a documentary or fact based so we understand that. Jim Gaffigan plays Cabana’s superior Edsel Kellogg III – also a fictional character. Why Seinfeld decided to do do some real and some not real characters is questionable. Why he chose to also go for absurd visual humor – is also perplexing. So what did I like? I loved the set design and the look of it. The vintage props and scenes are always fun to see; the cars, suits, backdrops – all great.
The reviews have been scathing actually. Though a few reviews (questionably) liked it. But the jokes fall flat, just not funny. It must be aimed at an under 20 something audience we are thinking to ourselves but I can’t imagine even they find it truly funny. Some of the gags leave you tilting your head like your dog Cuddles.
The movie is well shot and well balanced – it moves at a good clip – and that is Seinfeld’s doing as a director – so we will let him direct again and truly look forward to it – but this one is just not funny. And it is definitely not Seinfeld humor but maybe that is what he went for. I guess. The only conclusions we can come to. Some of the jokes are good but most fall flat. Some reviews liked it merely calling it silly but fun. For Jerry, he likely brought us a film he is proud of so – again – this must be what he set out to do! And for that kudos!. Like a pop-tart itself; You eat it – can handle it going down – but leaves you feeling bloated and empty – with little beneficial nutrients! But everyone will watch it on Netflix as it is right there with just a click – in hopes of seeing something others did not.
