Fat Albert (2004) Reviews

• A Tremendous Kids Movie...Fun For Their Parents as Well

  LennyB2004-12-30

  The reviews I've read for Fat Albert have been disheartening and for the most part, non-reflective of this movie. Too many critics cannot put aside their pretentiousness and evaluate this and other movies of the genre for what they are...children's entertainment. From this standpoint, Fat Albert stands above most of what I have seen with my kids in recent years. Beside a wonderful dose of nostalgia for boomers, this is a movie packed with humor, solid entertainment, decency, and important lessons about life. To me, that's what children's entertainment is about. And there were bonuses for adults as well... I thought the cast suceeded in capturing what we loved about the cartoon characters. Dumb Donald, Mush Mouth, Fat Albert were all on target and delivered more to love in their human form. I also appreciated the movie's ability to laugh at itself. I cracked up when The Cosby Kids were waiting outside the girl's apartment the morning after they met. They didn't need to sleep, eat, or go to the bathroom...because hey hey hey, they're cartoon characters. Lastly, the connection to the girl's grandfather Al was a lovely tie-in and the scene at the cemetery where the grown up Cosby gang paid tribute to their friend was sentimental without being sappy. Can I pick apart small things about the movie? Absolutely! However, this movie provided my family and myself with such good feelings, smiles, and conversation afterwards that there is no need to bother. Compare this with other kids movies that are chock full of scatological humor and impending sexuality and you will see that Fat Albert stands far and above. This movie was funny, thoughtful, and brought back many a wonderful memory. Go see it.

• We just loved "Fat Albert"

  DBigOLY2004-12-30

  I work with troubled teens and decided to invite a student over break to go to the movies with my 4 and 9 year old. He suggested "Fat Albert"--I am so glad he did! The film was absolutely wonderful in its innocence and charm. My teen liked it because of the "fantasy to reality" twist...as well as the cute girls and the great music. He also liked the idea of someone looking out for the "lonely" kid. My little kids thought the jokes were funny, the guys were funny, the music and dancing were"the bomb" and even the plot was even a little suspenseful for a little kid. I loved it because I grew up on the "Fat Albert" series and was just so happy to see and instantly remember all of my old pals. And the hilarious group scenes where the actions so fundamental to the cartoon were just ridiculous to the real life settings were so clever and delightfully funny--I was so pleased! If you're looking for an all-around, no crass or innuendo laden, truly sweet family film--this is the one!!

• A refreshing break from all the raunchy "kids" movies out there.

  JKazoo2004-12-27

  For the most part, when "family" and "movie" are right next to each other in the same sentence, my first instinct is to run as fast as I can the other way. But with a movie pass about to expire, and nothing else in the theater that piqued my interest (Christmas With the Kranks? NO THANK YOU!), I sat down in my seat with no expectations. I haven't seen the original TV series in years, but I've always been a big fan of Bill Cosby, and I was immediately put at ease when the credit "Written by Bill Cosby" came up. Bill's script keeps the spirit of the original characters intact, and incorporates them into the real world without an overkill of "Oh, wow! Things are so different now!" style of jokes. This movie is made for kids, not at kids. Things are kept simple without being condescending, and at no time will adults have to talk their way out of explaining something "adult" to the kiddies. In the end, while this movie won't win any technical or artistic awards, it's still a fun little movie that the whole family can enjoy, and for once, that's a good thing. B-plus.

• You're like school on Saturday: no class.

  film-critic2005-05-06

  Is there an unwritten rule in Hollywood that if you choose to recreate comedy, it has to be less funny than the original so that it doesn't overpower the genuine moment of the first? I am a strong believer that there is such a rule because I fully witnessed it in the film Fat Albert. This film had so much potential that I really wanted to jump into my television and start grabbing necks a-la Homer Simpson. Frustration grew inside of me as jokes were tossed out towards the viewing audience with such disappointment that to laugh would have given the film way too much credit. The characters were flat, the story was "normal chaos that has been done in nearly every other film", and the class of the television program Fat Albert was diminished by cheap thrills and over-budgeting. Did Bill Cosby have a true writing credit to this film? It would be hard for me to believe that he seriously considered this work great, but then again, he is older and has bills to pay … so why not? While the ending tried to bring a tear to your eye, I was already crying at the utter lack of appreciation that this film carried and influenced the youth of our nation. To say that this film was horrible would be too kind of a word, to quote a line from the film "(Fat Albert is) like school on Saturday: no class" would again, probably be giving it too much credit. From the opening credit sequence to the overly animated cartoons to the lack of animation in the characters when they became real was difficult to watch. Kenan Thompson tries really hard to empower the soul of Fat Albert, but what comes through the screen are just pathetic. He has no backbone and literally, he gives Albert this image of ignorance. Instead of being this helpful friend, Thompson's Albert has these huge glazed eyes that roll around whenever trouble begins. He just didn't seem to have that pizazz that I remember Albert having from the television programs. If Albert was a leader in the cartoon, he was not one in this film. Unless you count the fact that the other actors in this film followed his suit by also leaving their energy at home. Childish humor coupled with this sense of apathy really didn't spark this film onto the level it should have been. I kept seeing glances of this really humorous story about Fat Albert in the real world, but instead I was forced through yet another Cool World. That is how I would best describe this film, Cool World for children. With our characters firmly not caring about their careers, we are then forced to focus on the non-existent story that apparently the writers of this film chose to not write. Instead of creating a plot with some climactic moments, our writers of this film chose to just let Fat Albert wander until something funny happened. I kept wondering to myself if this was an actual scripted film or just Thompson and Zwick allowing improv to occur anywhere and anytime. Now, if you were working with a genuine comic actor this could have worked (like Robin Williams or Will Ferrell), but with Thompson it just felt forced. Nearly every scene felt forced or overworked in this film. Spontaneity was not an element that these writers considered. This ultimately caused the jokes to be extremely flat. The humor just didn't bring the true life of Albert onto the screen. This is where I question the validity of Cosby being involved with this production. I know he was getting paid, but how much did he work? The jokes felt so old and used that I am surprised that children responded to them. Maybe it was the urban feel that Albert somehow felt comfortable in … who knows? Either way, the loose story allowed for unfizzy jokes, which ultimately lead to the demise of this picture. Finally, I would like to say that Fat Albert (when I was growing up) was an inspiration and "every man" to us all. The group that followed him and his actions somehow always felt like a part of us. There wasn't anything that could stop Fat Albert from helping another lost soul, and somehow in this film adaptation, none of these old feels could be remembered. It wasn't as if they were trying, but this was definitely not the same Fat Albert that I grew up with. He didn't reach me like he used to, and perhaps it was the larger budget or the lack of imagination, but Albert hurt the soul in this film. I am surprised that he was able to assist Doris in her problem (this obscure problem that was never quite defined), because if I were in her shoes, I would have politely kicked this Albert to the curb. Cosby needed to reconsider his options before allowing this Albert to see the light of day. Overall, as if you couldn't tell already, this film hurt me. As I watched this dopey picture, I couldn't help but wonder if this film was focused correctly. When it first started I had this feeling that Albert would be called to help Doris with her problem, causing him to be a secondary character (like her own Jiminie Cricket), but instead what happened is that Thompson's camera excitement stole the performance away from Doris while creating a film centered around Albert. This should not have been the case for this to be a truly inspirational film. We lost the central focus of the film, and then the story just went fuzzy. Too many hands in the honey pot with one hand wanting to be on top. It was sad, and ultimately destroyed this film. Grade: ** out of *****

• Flat Albert

  His_Dudeness742006-09-02

  What a disappointment this movie was ... one of the most original and brightest cartoons of it's time deserved a lot more than this poorly-written, unimaginative effort - the characters were more two-dimensional than their original cartoon counterparts! The acting was OK, it was the script that was the real disaster - where was Fat Albert to help out with *that* particular problem ? the 'plight' of Doris and her sister barely raised enough concern in the audience to sustain a half-hour cartoon, let alone a feature film - with the long list of issues and concerns facing adolescents these days, the producers chose the softest possible interpretation of what Fat Albert was all about - kids sticking together and helping each out when problems arise - the 'problems' facing Doris were barely worth addressing - even the problems in the cartoon-within-the-movie ('Danielle' running away and leaving school) where more pressing ... The whole 'cartoon's come to life' scenario was pretty lame - either do a full feature cartoon or make a movie about the characters as if they were real people - combining the cartoon world with the real world just didn't work in the hands of these writers - they could barely muster a single gag in what was supposedly a light-hearted comedy ffs ... the characters were tampered with in a most displeasing way - Rudy was robbed of his original personality to be made more 'P.C.' - the makers of the original cartoon gave Rudy a cocky, smart-ass attitude to balance out the saccharine righteousness of Fat Albert and Bill Cosby - the gang didn't need anymore 'nice guys', and there could have been a lot of fun to be had with Rudy's character had he retained his original 'edge'. Russell's non-appearance in physical form was puzzling and uneccessary ... where the hell was Mudfoot ?!? ... only the tiniest reference was made to the Brown Hornet - surely something more imaginative could have been written with such an integral and fun character ? Fat Albert the Movie was a by-the-numbers waste of celluloid and cellulite ...