“Unfrosted” Review
Starring Jerry Seinfeld (who produced, cowrote and directed the film), “Unfrosted” is a parody biopic that tells the story of the creation of the iconic Pop Tart.
While biopics centered on companies, products or other “brands” have been around for some time (“The Social Network” and “”The Founder” come to mind), there have been several that have popped up in just the past couple of years. In just the past year, films about Air Jordans, Tetris, the Blackberry and even Flaming Hot Cheetos got a release. However, these films aren’t just cynical cash-grabs. In fact, “Air” and “Blackberry” were quite exceptional.
Whenever something this popular comes around, it’s inevitable that satires are going to come out as a similar situation occurred with music biopics. Films like “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” and “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” were praised by critics and audiences for mocking the hell out of the clichés of their respective genres so something similar was to be expected and certainly welcome. So, who would make a film taking on these brand biopics? The guy who starred in “Bee Movie”. From the legendary comic Jerry Seinfeld comes his directorial debut “Unfrosted”, a film that dares to ask the important question of “how the hell did we get Pop Tarts?” Yes, Jerry Seinfeld made a movie about Pop Tarts and, despite good intentions and some pretty good laughs here and there, “Unfrosted” is a so-so misfire that doesn’t take full advantage of its satirical nature.
Set in the early 60s, when the 50s refused to die and everyone really needed some good weed, Bob Cabana (Jerry Seinfeld) is the head of development at Kellogg’s who is in strict competition with Post in the cereal market. When Cabana discovers that Post has stolen his ideas and is trying to make a breakfast pastry that he thought was impossible to make, he reunites with his former creative partner (Melissa McCarthy) and gets to work on assembling what will become the Pop Tart. But great things aren’t accomplished smoothly. To make this dream a reality, Cabana must work around the egos of his team, the rivals of Post and several other parties including a cartel of milk distributors, disgruntled cereal mascots led by the voice of Tony the Tiger Thurl Ravenscroft (Hugh Grant) and even President John F. Kennedy (Bill Burr).
To be honest, Jerry Seinfeld was probably the best person to be involved with this film. After all, he is a cereal connoisseur if you were paying attention to his kitchen shelves on the iconic series “Seinfeld”. But throughout the entire film, his performance feels lacking with it all depending on the hit or miss humor that the screenplay has to offer. The screenplay was written by the same team (including Seinfeld) that also wrote “Bee Movie” and it has the same awkward feeling with some scenes being comedically well-played while others go on for much too long. As a director, you can feel the passion that Seinfeld has for wanting to mock this latest craze in movie biopics but it doesn’t materialize.
The whole cast, composed of a massive amount of comedy stars, can get some good laughs with Melissa McCarthy having a lot of fun as the crazed scientific mind. I was also enjoying Hugh Grant as Thurl Ravenscroft (the man who not only voiced Tony the Tiger but also lent his deep singing voice to the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and several Disney rides like The Haunted Mansion) as his commitment to dignity while dressed in a tiger costume was hilarious.
“Unfrosted” plays things way too safe to be the comedy gem it’s striving to be. The film is at its best when the humor goes into cynicism, full-on lunacy or is just cruel. That’s where the real conflict and the real laughs kick in. There’s only so many times where you can watch Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan and Melissa McCarthy dance around the name of the Pop Tart before you become disengaged.
There are some comedic highlights that did make me want to keep watching to see what the film amounted to but “Unfrosted” just doesn’t come together. As a whole, the film feels stale and takes what could have been the “Walk Hard” of brand biopics and makes a relatively so-so film. I don’t think people are going to be quoting Seinfeld’s Bob Cabana as much as John C Reilly’s Dewey Cox or Daniel Radcliffe’s Weird Al Yankovic. I suppose the film might achieve some kind of cult popularity like “Bee Movie” but that film had Patrick Warburton trying to kill the honey loving protagonist with an aerosol spray flamethrower and winter boots. I can’t even remember what role Warburton had in the Pop Tart movie. That alone is a comedic sin.
