REVIEW: Unfrosted Will Entertain, But Not Sustain

Jerry Seinfeld makes his directorial debut with Unfrosted, a tale of the race between cereal big boys Kellog’s and Post to see who can create the first packaged breakfast pastry in the 1960s. The Netflix movie, which is loosely based on the true story of the sprint to create Pop-Tarts, stars Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, and Jim Gaffigan as the Kellog’s team tasked with creating the new innovation. The film is filled to the brim with star-studded appearances and humor which will lightly entertain but certainly not sustain audiences in the long run.

Seinfeld’s debut as director has a handful of disjointed moments and is at times overly stuffed with humor. It’s almost as though the creative team spent a tad bit too long letting the comedians on the project cook, so much so that the end result comes out burnt instead of golden brown.

Seinfeld also wrote the film with the help of Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin. The trio likely had a blast doing so; although, their effort may not engage viewers as they thought. Fortunately, the story is quickly paced, bits don’t take forever, and there’s enough cameo appearances to keep viewers at least tuned in enough to see who is the next star on the screen.

McCarthy, Gaffigan, and Seinfeld carry the flick as they go up against Post owner, Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer) and her right hand man (Max Greenfield). Each actor leans into the silly with great aplomb and ease. None are pushed or stretched in anyway for their roles and that’s quite alright as they all seemed to have had a fairly good time making this production. And as noted previously, every where the camera turns another celebrity comedian appears. It’s almost as if Seinfeld sent out a mass communication to his pals inquiring who wanted to make a movie and found ways to slot in whoever showed up.

Unfrosted at points feels like a dragged out Saturday Night Live sketch. It has its laugh out loud moments, but most of the film feels like a mindless jaunt. This is a film meant to purely entertain without taking too much attention or thought. Keeping this in mind if opting to tune in this weekend will make the experience more palatable, just like the addition of frosting eventually did do the Pop-Tart.