Unfrosted Movie Review

Unfrosted (2024)

Watch Unfrosted on Netflix
Written by: Jerry Seinfeld & Spike Feresten and Andy Robin & Barry Marder
Directed by: Jerry Seinfeld
Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, Peter Dinklage, Christian Slater, Bill Burr, Dan Levy, Jack McBrayer, Bobby Moynihan, Tony Hale, Dean Norris, Sebastian Maniscalco, Cedric the Entertainer, John Slattery, Jon Hamm, Andy Daly, Ronny Chieng, Darrell Hammond
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
A fictional story where business rivals Kellogg's and Post compete to create a pastry that could change breakfast forever in 1963 Michigan.

Verdict
This is a wild and over the top world, heavy on jokes and references. At times it feels like a parody with how cutthroat this industry is over such low stakes. A third of the way in it felt more like a Youtube video with how silly it is, but this is the type of movie that would be even better after a second watch due to the density of jokes. It has some great scenes that alone make this worth watching, but this ends well making me appreciate the entire movie more. It's a silly and fun tale of how the shelf stable pastry was created (sort of).
Watch It.

Review
This is Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut, and he also stars in and co-wrote the script, inspired by a joke he told during a stand-up routine about the invention of Pop-Tarts.

This re-imagines the world of cereal with Kellogg's and Post as bitter rivals in the same town, fighting to gain control of the cereal market. Both companies are ridiculous as the CEO's stare out their office windows at each other. While it's fun, at first this felt like a silly idea stretched to full length. Jerry plays Bob, the mastermind behind Kellogg's offerings. He's in charge of keeping the mascots happy, developing new products, and making the CEO money. A chance meeting with a pair of philosophical kids in a dumpster prompts Bob to revive his research on the grail of breakfast; a shelf stable pastry.

Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy play Bob Cabana, Donna Stankowski

The pursuit of this product leads to cereal families gathering together like mobsters, sinister milk men angered at a breakfast item that doesn't require milk, a South American sugar cartel, Russians, a killer computer, and disgruntled mascots. This always feels a bit too silly because it's so over the top, frequently comparing the research and launch of this product to the space race. The movie claims this pastry is more likely than ever landing on the moon. Of course for most of the movie the product is just called the dingus.

Jon Hamm plays Ad Man #2

My favorite part of this movie might be Jon Hamm playing a character, that for all intents and purposes, is Don Draper. This is a movie that would be even better with a second watch. I never quite new how to take this. It's so silly with so many jokes and references. It's dense, and I know I missed a number of references. With the ability for hindsight, this makes a lot of foreshadowing jokes. For instance Bob states, frosting the Pop-tart would never catch on. At first I didn't realize that Tony the Tiger's attire in his revolt was a reference to the January 6 riots.

This ends well, chronicling what all the characters went on to do. That made the whole movie more likable. I enjoyed this and it's fun, but I think it's so full of jokes and references that it's almost too much for one viewing. That combined with the silly tone, for much of this you're wondering what this movie is about. Once I got to the end, the more I thought about the movie the more I liked it.