Editor's note: Gene Seymour is a critic who writes about music, film, and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Follow him on X @GeneSeymour. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. Read more opinions on CNN.
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On some level, I'm no different from people in other parts of America, and the world at large. One of the dozens of Seinfeld iterations that circulate the media world every day, it's easy to fill a spare half-hour in your life, with Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer playing their own You can come away refreshed from watching your life and the lives of others being ruined. People on a precarious trajectory.
I also love the irrational force that comes over me when I say in public, “The ocean was angry that day, my friend.” I know someone who hears my voice has seen that same classic “Seinfeld” and finishes that sentence. And share your memories with laughter.
So, I admit that. I love “Seinfeld.” But when it comes to actual comedian Jerry Seinfeld…it's complicated. Especially lately.
In most of his endeavors outside of the classic sitcom that bears his name (1989-1998), Seinfeld baffles me more than entertains me. His stand-up routines have always gotten huge hype and attendance and made me laugh. But he would be lying if he said he never wondered why he was laughing.
This ambiguity only obliquely influences my opinion of Seinfeld's recently released Netflix feature-length comedy, Unfrosted. Critics have had mixed reactions, with some complaining that the star-studded New Frontier-style parody about the invention of the Pop-Tart is little more than an over-the-top comedy skit or an all-too-blatant expression of a recent trend. There are also critics. “Biography” of corporate brands, like last year's “Air” and “Barbie.” And if Seinfeld's intention was to parody or subvert this trend, as at least one critic speculated, it seemed half-hearted at best.
But as far as I and other viewers were concerned, those negative feelings were caused by expectations for depth and comedic complexity that “Unfrosted” never intended to meet from the beginning. I took the director/co-writer's amiable, self-paced pastiche of Seinfeld at face value, the power struggles of the fictional grain baron, and (of course) Tony the Tiger (Hugh Grant). played by Thurl Ravenscroft), he accepted the false authenticity of corporate mascots. Quaker Reverend Oates (Andy Daly). It suggested to me in an interesting way a 6th grade classroom project of recreating on brightly colored construction paper and gluing together his magnificent early 1960s mosaic of Michigan.
Variety's Owen Gleiberman shared much of my enjoyment, calling Unfrosted “a typical comedian's movie, one that doesn't necessarily believe in anything but sticks its nose into everything.” Not only does this neatly sum up the film's strengths for me, but it also clarifies how thinking about “Unfrosted” clarified my own concerns about stand-up icon Seinfeld. is shown.
Kyle Dunigan's Walter Cronkite in a flaky, lush role? Did Bill Burr's JFK sneak off to meet up with the Doublemint twins? It's not, but so what? Grant, Melissa McCarthy, James Marsden, Amy Schumer, Christian Slater, Jon Hamm and John Slattery (renting their “Mad Men” persona), Seinfeld stars as a Kellogg executive in gray flannel. It's kind of exciting to see them join. , enjoying each other's company in his kitschy playroom.
Unlike his friend and sometime collaborator Larry David, Seinfeld's “observational comedy” leaves no lasting impression or reverberation. It won't surprise you or subvert your expectations. And unlike the groundbreaking sitcom that David and Seinfeld created together, Seinfeld's routine offers a substantive realization about what's truly humiliating about being human. I won't leave it to you.
To be fair, this isn't the game Seinfeld wants or needs to play. He hopes to have the widest possible interaction with his audience by weaving random, almost mundane things that we all find perplexing or frustrating. It's a smooth, reliable approach to entertainment that has worked for generations, and his calm control over the Seinfeld elements has made him a beloved and wealthy franchise.
Still, I've always had the disturbing feeling that Seinfeld is somehow always getting away with something when he pulls off this gentle, perfectly creased performance. Perhaps this is just a personal preference, but I always prefer something edgier with stand-up diets. John Mulaney performs as impeccably dressed as Seinfeld, but as in the Netflix special “Baby” a year ago, he spends most of his time on stage (in a much-hyped manner) ) There is an exhilarating sense of danger when you spend your time counting. , somehow) is a harrowing story of his drug abuse and recovery.
Seinfeld isn't about making viewers nervous, and I'm certainly not saying he should do that. Still, his lightly tired claims to avoid controversy have recently run into some serious problems. He also became more visible in his attacks on anti-Semitism and support for Israel in its war with Hamas, giving him the appearance of an apolitical alter ego on the sitcom. The disturbing question arises as to whether many people miss watching Seinfeld slide through controversy. To avoid long-term trouble.
Perhaps the most accurate portrayal of Seinfeld's current situation was in the latest “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live,” where he was promoted solely as a guy with “too much press.” It was when Seinfeld has continued to appear in the press on behalf of the Netflix vehicle over the past few weeks, leaving him feeling defeated and (rarely) left disheveled.
And how did he put together this seemingly unmanicured portrait of insecurity? By slipping in yet another promo for his film, that's how. No matter how weird everything is, Seinfeld is all business. That's his salvation.
If you want to call it that.
