Jerry Seinfeld's new comedy UNFROSTED is so old fashioned, simple and fun that it took me the first half hour to settle into its delicious, toasted grooves.
A throwback to simpler times that's loaded with pop culture references and surprises, it had me laughing out loud throughout most of its second half.
Only Jerry could assemble this kind of cast, it's incredible!
Our setting is 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan, the candy colored, Norman Rockwell Americana draped town that's home to the two cereal giants of the day, Kellogg's and Post. The film has the two giant building literally across the street from each other, sharing a round driveway so that Edsel Kellogg III (the reliably hilarious Jim Gaffigan) can spy with binoculars from his office on Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer) in hers.
Jerry plays Kelloggs idea man Bob Cabana, a relentless cheerful fountain of positivity and goodness who gets a kiss at the front door of his white picket fenced home, waves to the milkman and heads out to office in white shirt and tie.
The only troubles he seems to face is famous actor Thurl Ravenscroft as the voice of Tony the Tiger. Hugh Grant is perfectly cast as Thurl, more interested in staging a Shakespeare reading for the company than getting a TV spot done in his tiger suit.
Conflict comes in the early 60's space-race like competition to create the first shelf stable breakfast pastry.
Spinning wildly off that concept like a manic, comic equivalent of Oliver Stone's "JFK", UNFROSTED tells an increasingly tall tale of the two companies and the lengths they'll go to in order to be first to shelf.
Bob steals the legendary brand person Stankowksi "Stan"(Melissa McCarthy) from NASA to helm Kellogg's efforts. She proceeds to stage an Apollo mission like news conference introducing the five legends that will create the new pastry. They include Steve Schwinn (Jack McBrayer) of bicycle fame, a German scientist who created Sea Monkeys who is trying to escape to Argentina (Thomas Lennon), Jack LaLanne (a hilarious James Marsden) and Chef Boy Ardee (a scene stealing Bobby Moynihan, whose Italian accent gets more outrageous as the movie proceeds).
Bill Burr is hilarious as JFK, who sneaks in a meeting with Bob and Stan between Marilyn Monroe and the Doublemint Twins.
SNL's Kyle Dunnigan is off the charts funny as Walter Cronkite, whose off air rants escalate into a very non-Cronkite persona.
Every time you turn around, there's another very funny bit with another a-list actor or comedian, keeping the pace fast and the tone completely off the rails silly and enjoyable.
Look at the names mentioned though, JFK, Cronkite, Lalanne, not exactly names you are going to know unless you are of a certain age. And for the generation that is impossible to offend and easier to laugh and find humor in absurdity, UNFROSTED is a big, goofy, jelly filled treat.
"They can't go stale, they were never fresh!"
By the time Snap, Crackle and Pop were scheming with Tony the Tiger, who's exasperated by their stupidity, I was in stitches.
When the two Ad Agency men arrived to help name the pastry, my jaw dropped.
As both director and co-writer, Seinfeld delivers something so old it seems refreshingly new again.
Thanks to Peter Dinklage, I'll never look at milkmen quite the same way again.
Ignore the critics who were mandated to slam Jerry because he had the gall (balls) to say some un-woke things at a recent commencement speech, this is a hell of a funny movie.
UNFROSTED gets a tasty B.
You go Jerry!
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