Though inoffensive, it's also flat and rather tedious...the movie isn't ready for the junkyard, but it isn't very fresh, either.
Fat Albert (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:17
Rotten:64
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: A bland but good-natured adaptation of the cartoon show.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: Inspired by the 1970s animated television series, FAT ALBERT transports the loveable characters from their animated universe into the real world. When Doris (Kyla Pratt), a sad teenager in... Inspired by the 1970s animated television series, FAT ALBERT transports the loveable characters from their animated universe into the real world. When Doris (Kyla Pratt), a sad teenager in Philadelphia, turns on a rerun of FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS, her tears compel the always-helpful Fat Albert to jump through the TV screen to her rescue. His friends quickly follow, and to Doris's astonishment, the whole Fat Albert gang magically transforms into real live people right in her living room. Not knowing what to do with her odd new friends, Doris adamantly denies having a problem, and encourages the boys to jump back into the TV set. But Albert can see that Doris is lonely and is determined to find her some friends. As Albert tries to fix Doris's problem, the rest of the gang tries to adjust to their new, unscripted world. Meanwhile, Albert finds himself falling in love with Doris's foster sister, Lauri. But as soon as the gang begins to enjoy the perks of being real, their brightly colored outfits start to fade. Taking this as a sign that they do not belong in the real world, the boys decide it's time to go home. Bill Cosby (co-writer of the film and creator of the original series) makes a guest appearance as himself, warning Albert that he must return to his animated world before evaporating into a cloud of celluloid dust. But before Albert can leave, he must solve Doris's problem. Kenan Thompson (of Saturday Night Live fame) is charming as Albert, who demonstrates the power of believing in one's self by never letting anything (including his size) get in the way of his goals. [More]
Starring: Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Dania Ramirez, Omari Grandberry
Starring: Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Dania Ramirez, Omari Grandberry, Marques Houston, Keith Robinson, Aaron Carter, Jeremy Suarez, Raven Symone, Keri Lynn Pratt, Shedrack Anderson, Jermaine Williams
Director: Joel Zwick
Director: Joel Zwick
Screenwriter: Bill Cosby, Charles Kipps
Producer: John Davis
Composer: Richard Gibbs
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Fat Albert
The epilogue is poignant and truthful in a way that the rest of the film, with its inept storytelling and strictly unfunny humor, does not earn or deserve.
Fat Albert manages to talk down to two generations of pop-cult consumers - the Boomers and the Gen-Xers - while leaving no reason for their uncategorized offspring to join in on the Hey! Hey! Hey! chants.
It's unlikely anyone over the age of 12 will find much to cheer about in the bland, sanitized moralizing this revamp of the decades-old Saturday morning cartoon show delivers.
Albert is too numbingly nice for a comedy that at 80 minutes runs about 15 minutes past its prime time.
Not much of a movie, but maybe it'll shame TV Land into putting the gang back on the tube.
Rather than making a movie about Fat Albert, they've decided to make a movie that comments on the Fat Albert TV series.
With its chronic product placement, including a sledgehammer ad for the original series on DVD, Fat Albert seems to center on helping kids become better shoppers rather than better people.
A 10-minute cartoon expanded into an especially long and deadly after-school special.
Somewhere in its quest to be educational, Fat Albert forgot to be entertaining.
The actors playing the live-action incarnations of the show's characters do them justice.
Fat Albert simply exists as a bone tossed to families starved for something they can watch together in movie theaters.
While it's pleasant enough for all ages, it's too clean for today's kids, it's too sappy for jaded adults, and not yet nostalgic enough for those of us who grew up with the original.
There are no bodily function jokes in Fat Albert, and not one disbelieving or stupid parental figure. As family fare goes, that alone may be worth the price of admission.
As with other live-action films inspired by Saturday-morning cartoons, this family-friendly comedy just isn't animated enough.
As a general rule, television shows do not make for good movies, and Saturday morning cartoons typically fare even worse in the transfer to the big screen. Fat Albert is no exception, but it's not in the Garfield category.
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