Opens December 25, 2004

Rated PG

Starring Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Shedrack Anderson III and Dania Ramirez

Directed by Joel Zwick
Written by Bill Cosby, et al

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Review by John C. Snider © 2004

If you're over 30, you likely have fond memories of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Bill Cosby's Saturday morning cartoon that aired throughout the 70s and early 80s.  Set in north Philadelphia, the show followed the comic adventures of a tight-knit band of black ghetto kids, led by the rotund, good-natured Fat Albert, with his gruff, sing-songy, signature greeting: "Hey, Hey, Hey!"  Along with friends Rudy, speech-impaired Mushmouth, Dumb Donald, Weird Harold, Bucky, Bill and Russell (Bill's little brother), Fat Albert offered his TV audience solutions to all sorts of everyday problems: schoolyard bullies, lying, skipping school and making friends.

Lately Bill Cosby has been getting into hot water for his outspoken assessment of the sad status of America's black community in the 21st century.  Fat Albert (based on Cosby's childhood of the 40s and 50s) was already quaint for the 1970s: imagine what would happen if Fat Albert showed up today!

Well, that's exactly what happens in the new feature film Fat Albert, which hits theatres on Christmas Day.  When a young teen named Doris (Kyla Pratt) beweeps her lack of friends (while watching a Fat Albert rerun on TV Land), her tears somehow short-circuit the remote, sucking Albert (Kenan Thompson) and his gang out of the television and into the real world.  Aware that they are supposed to be cartoons (and amazed at becoming "real") Albert and the gang decide to solve Doris's "problem" and help her find some friends - no small task in the modern urban culture, with its overt cynicism, obsession with bling-bling, and overall disdain for anything innocent and wholesome.  Along the way, Albert meets and falls for Lauri (Dania Ramirez), Doris's adopted sister.  Things get really complicated when the Cosby Kids realize that they're fading away; out of place in the real world.

The idea behind the Fat Albert movie (gimmicky as it is) is an interesting one: plop Bill Cosby's band of animated innocents into today's crass urban culture.  Unfortunately, the execution of this idea (written by Cosby himself, along with several others) is muddled and unfocused.  By aiming the film at a younger audience (it's rated PG for minor impolite language), the story can never tackle anything more serious than Doris having no friends.  With all the problems besieging today's black community - illiteracy, unemployment, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, violence and imprisonment - all Albert gets to do is help Doris find friends?  And by conspicuously transforming the Cosby Kids from animation to flesh-and-blood, the film's first half bogs down with their necessary assimilation to the realities of 2004.  We see Albert & Co. marvel at "cordless" cell phones, laptop computers and pop-top soda cans.  Oh, the hilarity. 

The realization of the Cosby Kids as actual people is reasonably well-done, although the overall effect is one of a very bad Saturday Night Live skit.  Kenan Thompson (decked out in a convincing fat suit) has mastered the "Hey, hey, hey!", but his imitation of Albert's coarse voice comes and goes at random.

The second half of the film fares better (especially when Albert finally - literally - meets his maker, and The Cos reveals the "secret" of Fat Albert's origins and what Doris's connection is to him).  Still, there's a huge amount of filler in this movie: Fat Albert performs a rap version of his classic theme song, Albert rides a skateboard, etc. - plus a shameless product placement touting the first release of the show on DVD.  There's also a minor subplot featuring Russell (left by himself in TV Land) fighting off a rival gang of bullies who want to take over the Junkyard - but it never becomes a major factor in the film.  One touching moment in the denouement involves Cosby and a handful of elderly gents who are apparently the real-life inspirations for Rudy, Mushmouth, and the rest. 

All this careening from farcical to deadly serious begs the question: Who's this movie intended for?  Preschoolers will squirm; teenagers will be confused; and adults will be left with a nostalgic yearning to watch an episode of the original show.

Our Rating: C

Links

Fat Albert Official Movie Website 

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