Movie Review: Unfrosted

While Jerry Seinfeld is best known for his mega hit sitcom, Seinfeld, in many ways that show feels like it fits more with the sensibilities of co-creator Larry David, trafficking largely in heightened takes on mundane occurrences, while only sometimes venturing into more absurd territory. Here marking his first turn as the director of a feature film, Seinfeld allows himself to let loose, and he and his writing partners Spike Feresten (also of Seinfeld), Barry Marder (Bee Movie), and Andy Robin (Seinfeld again) have created a surreal and silly version of 1960s America to tell the story of the creation of the Pop-Tart, and viewers who are willing to go along for the ride are in for a sugary treat.

Bob Cabana (Seinfeld) is working at Kellogg’s during the peak of their popularity against rival Post, when he begins to suspect that Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer, relishing playing a villain) has something up her sleeve. When he discovers a pair of children ravenously devouring some fruit filling in Post’s dumpsters, he rushes to tell his boss Edsel Kellogg III (Jim Gaffigan, delightfully dimwitted) that it looks like Post may have succeeded in creating a breakfast pastry, something that he himself had previously failed at accomplishing. Determined to beat their crosstown nemeses at any cost, Edsel tasks Bob with resuming his research and offers him whatever he needs to get the job done before Post can beat them to market.

Bob immediately recruits his old partner Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy, great as always) and she in turn recruits a group of high profile “Taste Pilots” consisting of bike maker Steve Schwinn (Jack McBrayer), pet sea monkey creator Harold von Braunhunt (Thomas Lennon), ice cream magnate Tom Carvel (Adrian Martinez), fitness guru Jack LaLanne (James Marsden), and pasta legend Chef Boy Ardee (Bobby Moynihan, stealing every scene he’s in). The two companies fight back and forth with each other in a clear spoof of the US and Russia’s space race, and the stakes become increasingly and hilariously absurd.

There are so many celebrity cameos in here it would be take too long to list them all, but Hugh Grant particularly stands out as Thurl Ravenscroft, a pompous thespian who has the role of Tony the Tiger, as does Peter Dinklage in a brief appearance as Harry Friendly, the boss of the surprisingly powerful and vindictive milk syndicate. And even though they are barely on screen, Kyle Mooney, Mikey Day, and Drew Tarver as Snap, Crackle, and Pop respectively have me wishing someone would orient a project around the trio. That being said there are no weak links in the sprawling cast, with everyone fully committing to the bit and selling every ridiculous thing they are called on to say.

And believe me, this movie is very ridiculous. Like a cross between the ZAZ classic Airplane! and the Coen brothers’ underappreciated The Hudsucker Proxy, it offers up rapid-fire jokes that hit more than they miss while lampooning the romanticized view of old America and classic notions of big business along with myriad other topics. It does flag a little bit at times, and it’s hard not to wonder if it’s still too soon to take on the January 6th attack on the US Capitol (though the gag does wind up working pretty well in the context of the movie), but Unfrosted is the type of simultaneously smart and dumb comedy that I wish we got more of these days. ★★★★