Unfrosted

Directed by Jerry Seinfeld, Unfrosted follows a cereal executive (Seinfeld’s Bob Cabana) as he and his team attempt to beat their rivals towards the creation of a handheld breakfast treat. Filmmaker Seinfeld, armed with a script written alongside Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin, delivers a perpetually irreverent (and perpetually hit-and-miss) comedy that benefits from its brisk, bright sensibilities and raft of appealing performances, as, in terms of the former, Seinfeld himself offers up a thoroughly agreeable central turn that’s matched (and then some) by a stacked supporting cast that includes, among others, Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, and Christian Slater. (Hugh Grant’s scene-stealing work as a Shakespearean cereal mascot remains a continuing highlight within the proceedings, to be sure.) And while the narrative’s sketch-comedy-like bent admittedly does pave the way for a midsection that’s often as underwhelming as it is entertaining, Unfrosted, buoyed by its pervasively affable atmosphere, generally comes off as a lighthearted diversion that sustains one’s interest for the duration of its 93 minutes.

**1/2 out of ****