Unfrosted (2024) **1/2

 

Jerry Seinfeld is an interesting fellow. For his directorial film debut, the comedian probably could have done anything he wanted. What he chose to do was tell a mildly humorous version of the 1960's battle between cereal giants Kellogg and Post as they raced to develop a toaster pastry. The result of that battle was Pop-tarts, “the greatest pair of rectangles since the 10 Commandments.”

The story is based loosely on the very real rivalry between Kellogg and Post. The companies have always stolen each other's ideas. As a character says in the movie, “We're like Ford and Chevy. We sell the exact same thing; the difference is marketing.” Post really did start out ahead in the pastry race, but timing and marketing are everything, and their Country Squares proved no match for Pop-tarts.

When a guy of Seinfeld's comedic stature calls, people in Hollywood are going to answer, and sure enough, a ridiculously high-octane cast of A-list personae showed up for this farce. The list includes Melissa McCarthy, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, Jon Hamm, Peter Dinklage, and way too many B+-listers and character actors to name here. You will spend the whole movie saying, “Hey, that's so-and-so!”

And you will watch the movie, assuming you have Netflix and are of an age to know who Jerry Seinfeld is. There is simply no reason not to watch this silly celebration of breakfast food. There is also no reason to pretend that it is anything more than an amusing vanity project. In the 90's, “Seinfeld” pushed boundaries with episodes like the “master of my domain” one and the one with the wooden Indian. He took risks and ruffled feathers. “Unfrosted” does neither. The movie is one big Dad-joke. It has laughs, but they are gentle, family friendly, even. Like the breakfast pastry that the film celebrates, it is a bunch of empty calories that you will forget about soon after consuming it. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

2.5 stars out of 5

No Hard Feelings ***

 

It has been obvious that Jennifer Lawrence is an amazing actress since 2010's "Winter's Bone." The 20-yr-old displayed a range and level of maturity beyond her years in that film, and she has confirmed her genius in follow-ups like "Silver Linings Playbook," "American Hustle," and the "Hunger Games" films. It should come as no surprise, then, that she is able to take a silly, forgettable comedy like “No Hard Feelings” and elevate it above its genre.

Lawrence plays Maddie, an irresponsible, hot mess with limited career prospects who has burned through all the available men in her small town. She responds to an ad from a couple of concerned parents looking for someone to “date” their shy, virginal, adult son. Maddie promises to “date the shit” out of the young man in exchange for a car.

You can pretty much guess the rest of the story. There have been a million of these “nerdy guy dates hot girl” movies. “No Hard Feelings” doesn't really distinguish itself from the other offerings in this genre, but it does manage to be entertaining, largely on the charms of Jennifer Lawrence. She has good comic timing, and with the help of a supporting cast that is at least competent, she turns a hackneyed story into a fun bit of comedy.

3 stars out of 5

The Holdovers (2023) ***

 

From director Alexander Payne and star Paul Giamatti, the team that brought us the brilliant “Sideways,” we now have “The Holdovers,” a thoughtful, funny, sometimes overly-sweet film about a bunch of misfits forming an unlikely family.

Giamatti plays Paul Hunham, a grumpy, cross-eyed antiquities teacher at the toney Barton academy, a New England boarding school for boys. Unpopular with the students, faculty, and administration, Hunham gets stuck with the job of staying at school over the holidays to look after the handful of boys who have nowhere to go over the Christmas break, the “holdovers.” You might think that Hunham wouldn't mind the job that much. He lives on campus, and with no family, he has no travel plans. In fact, Hunham has never really gone anywhere. He went from being a student at Barton (on scholarship) to teaching there, and he seems destined to live out his lonely life being grumpy there.

Hunham sees a bit of himself in one of the boys. Angus (Dominic Sessa) is bright but socially awkward. He is also unpopular at Barton, and his status as a holiday holdover is extra painful because he was dropped at the last minute from his family's beach vacation. The other holdover boys are a mixed bag of various ages and backgrounds. With frigid weather outside, and an unsympathetic Mr. Hunham inside, the boys prepare to spend an unhappy holiday.

Director Alexander Payne is known for his clever, often darkly funny, character studies, including “Citizen Ruth”, “Election”, and “Sideways”. “The Holdovers” is interesting not because exciting things happen, but because of the glimpse it gives you of characters you might not normally pay attention to: the grumpy teacher, the awkward student, and the quiet cook who lost her son to Vietnam (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).

There are people of a certain age for whom “Dead Poets Society” was their favorite movie growing up. Now that they are adults, “The Holdovers” should be their new favorite. Like “Dead Poets”, “The Holdovers” is about a teacher whose integrity gets him into trouble, but who winds up inspiring at least one of his students. “The Holdovers” does not get as melodramatically dark as “Dead Poets”, but its tone throughout is more melancholy, its characters more complex, and its hero harder to warm up to. Like “Dead Poets”, “The Holdovers” crosses the line from emotional to treacly at times.

The film is worth seeing for the excellent performances by Paul Giamatti and young co-star Dominic Sessa, and for the Oscar-winning supporting performance by Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Still, Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti have done better. If you saw”Sideways,” you know that wine-themed movie was like a fine pinot noir - subtle, complex, something you want to revisit again and again. “The Holdovers” is more like a merlot - pleasant but basic.

3 stars out of 5