Unfrosted (2024) | Review

 2024. PG-13. 97 mins. Directed by Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld made one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sitcoms of all time. He has now also made one of the worst Netflix original movies. In his directorial debut, Seinfeld fumbles the ball and squanders an amazing cast with a below average comedy that never feels like it knows what it wants to be. How a movie can contain this much talent and essentially not execute on any level is nothing short of amazing.

The movie follows Bob Cabana (Jerry Seinfeld) as he tells the story of how he helped create the Pop Tart for Kellogg's. This is a somewhat interesting concept for a comedy. Watching two rival companies go toe to toe and try to one up each other to make a new breakfast snack could make some funny moments. Unfortunately, that is the biggest problem with Unfrosted, it just isn't very funny. With a cast littered with so many great comedians, former SNL cast members and cameos from other talented actors there is absolutely no reason this shouldn't have worked better. It is clear that Seinfeld isn't the most skilled director, which goes right along with his acting capabilities.

There isn't much here that is noteworthy. A few people in the cast are at the very least trying to do something. Melissa McCarthy is doing her best along with Jim Gaffigan, both of whom provide most of the few laughs that are present. Bill Burr is somewhat humorous as John F. Kennedy and that's pretty much where it stops. Everyone else here is wasted and couldn't look less interested in playing whatever character they're supposed to be. It feels like this is trying to capitalize on a similar style to Barbie in the way it looks and the cinematography. Even with its best efforts it doesn't come anywhere close to replicating that same style. 

Unfrosted is a huge disappointment. The trailer made it seem like it could be a fun comedy with an amazing cast. Instead, it ends up being an almost boring, completely unfunny movie that wastes one of the best casts to appear in a comedy in quite some time. While there are a few people in the cast trying their best and there are a handful of bizarre moments that leave you wishing the movie had more moments in that style of comedy, this ultimately fails in more ways than not.

Rating: 3.5/10