Unfrosted (2024) review

An exaggerated "food war" takes place in the early 1960's between companies Kellogg's and Post (both of them conveniently headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan) over who was going to develop the next great "breakfast treat" for kids, so executive Bob Cabana (Seinfeld) recruits NASA scientist Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy) to create what would be known as the "Pop-Tart" (a personal favorite of mine in high school when I was running perpetually late).  Mr. Seinfeld is generally regarded as one of the best living comedians - his iconic self-titled show was a key cultural artifact from the 1990's - except almost all of the "jokes" fail miserably (expect to groan multiple times) and it's basically a ten-minute Internet sketch (which should have been posted on YouTube or Funny or Die) that's inexplicably puffed up to a feature-length release (with Netflix paying the tab).  There's no denying its creator can breeze through a fifty-minute set featuring new material (to sell-out crowds), but even with three co-screenwriters (Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder ... but not Larry David), they can't keep it afloat.  And yet, there are some sporadic moments of cleverness, like Bill Burr playing JFK, Jon Hamm and John Slattery reprising their roles from Mad Men and IBM's UNIVAC computer losing its mind Apocalypse Now-style in Vietnam.