Unfrosted (Jerry Seinfeld, Netflix, 2024)
Even though Unfrosted has its moments, this cereal comedy from Jerry Seinfeld lacks one necessary ingredient: substance.
Jerry Seinfeld has reached the point in his career he can do whatever he likes. I remember the time i spent whole weekends watching Seinfeld reruns and loving every moment of it.
After that there was the succesfull animated Bee Movie (2007) and I seem to remember that (between 2016 and 2019) Jerry also drank a lot of coffee in cars with other comedians.
A great way to spend your time, I’m sure, but making movies in this day and age - after a pandemic and the rise of the streamers - is something else entirely. Unfrosted is the kind of comedy that wouldn’t stand a chance in theaters these days, so it's probably a good thing it's on Netflix.
It tells the (more or less) true tale of the War between Kellogg’s and Post for the dominance in breakfast foods in the first half of the 1960's and the invention of the Pop-tart, which I guess forever changed the World of Breakfast.
Pop-tarts were never that big a deal in Europe as they were in the US, but I get it: this is basically a sports competition between two very powerful companies, with some also rans like Quaker (whose products I actually preferred) thrown in for good measure.
It's all very much written (by Seinfeld with Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder) from a 2024 perspective, with lots of phrases like 'we are in the sixties now so we have to make the most of it', or words to that effect. Which is only fitting for a movie that wants to wink-wink and nudge-nudge at you, like, all the time.
Having said that, the collective amount of comedy talent present - Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant and of course Jerry Seinfeld (as a top Kellogg’s executive) to name but a few - leads to some funny moments, but it's not quite enough to elevate the movie into anything remotely substantial.
Of Seinfeld it was said it was the best comedy ‘about nothing’ ever made but to my mind it also looked at friendship from every possible angle, starring four multi layered characters, played by four highly idiosyncratic individuals, and that's what gave it it's true value. (Of course, it also had Larry David, who then went to make Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Directed by Jerry Seinfeld himself, Unfrosted is a polished production, played by professionals probably having a fine time of it, but it all feels a bit inconsequential and doesn’t really offer the sustenance needed from a hearty breakfast.