For someone with a refined comedic palate, Jerry Seinfeld sure knows how to pick movies. He’s starred in classic films like Bee Movie and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, so he knows what’s funny and what’s not funny. Unfortunately, most critics believe his latest flick Unfrosted is simply Not Funny.
The movie, both starring and directed by Seinfeld, follows the riveting origin story of Pop-Tarts, the preferred breakfast snack to eat with one hand. Making movies about breakfast products might seem like a good idea to marketing execs and enemies of oatmeal, but not to people who enjoy good movies.
Unfrosted has been panned by critics, with some calling it “one of the decade’s worst movies.” Keep in mind that Bee Movie was released in 2007. Here’s what other critics are saying about the movie, which is now available on Netflix.
Collider‘s Ross Bonaime wrote:
Considering we’re in a world where Barbie can make $1.4 billion and become a commentary on feminism and the patriarchy, or Tetris, Air Jordans, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos can get their own halfway decent biopics, it’s a shame Unfrosted doesn’t try a bit harder. Again, even a film like Weird managed to make its jokes and cameos work as part of a larger story, whereas Unfrosted always puts the story itself on the back burner.
The Wrap‘s William Bibbiani called the film “unfilling:”
If you thought Jerry Seinfeld’s funniest moments were in his American Express ads, then Unfrosted is the film for you. The detached and generic jokes all play out with a bright, rhythmless conformity. There’s a non-stop cavalcade of celebrity cameos which aren’t funny because for the most part, the whole joke is that they’re celebrity cameos. The humor is thuddingly blunt and the punchlines constantly call attention to themselves, which robs them of their punch. There’s a scene where Jerry Seinfeld’s bathrobe is accidentally blown off but apparently the gag wasn’t obvious enough so there’s also a reaction shot from a plastic squirrel. Please laugh.
The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw was a little kinder:
There’s a steady stream of excellent gags, creating a rising crescendo of silliness similar in effect to Seinfeld’s own distinctive falsetto-hysterical declamation at the moment of ultimate joke-awareness… As a whole, it’s not exactly a masterpiece, but amiable and funny in a way that’s much harder to achieve than it looks.”
IndieWire‘ David Ehrlich called Unfrosted “painfully stale:”
Seinfeld used to say in his standup that Pop-Tarts can’t go stale because they were never fresh to begin with. As a one-liner, that was kinda funny. As the entire comedic ethos behind a 90-minute film, not so much.
The Chicago Suns Times‘ Richard Roeper was unimpressed:
[Unfrosted] is one of the decade’s worst movies. I’m surprised … Seinfeld, one of the sharpest and most observant comedic minds of his generation, didn’t halt production halfway through, call time of death and apologize to everyone for wasting their time. Unfrosted is so consistently awful it makes the aforementioned Flamin’ Hot seem like The Social Network. If there was a thing called the IMDB Witness Protection Program whereby you could get your name taken off the credits of a particular project, this would be that project.”
The Daily Beast‘s Nick Schager noted:
With no inspired perspective on its subject matter, the film proves a soggy attempt at deriving humor from a breakfast-wars premise that seems better fit for a five-minute Saturday Night Live sketch—and doesn’t come close to matching the genuine madness of the Pop-Tarts Bowl’s death-by-consumption showstopper.
All in all, please remember: the best Pop Tart flavor is brown sugar cinnamon.
