Python Hyena
Fat Albert (2004): Dir: Joel Zwick / Cast: Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Dania Ramirez, Bill Cosby, Keith Robinson: "Hey, hey, hey! It's Fat Albert on the big screen." Based upon characters created by Bill Cosby centering on a big guy with a big heart. When refused invitation to a party at school young Kyla Pratt goes home and watches Fat Albert but when a tear hits the remote control the characters suddenly emerge. This concept never works because the transformation from one world to another is taken so lightly. The longer they remain in reality the more their color will fade. Simple formula yet director Joel Zwick asks questions about adapting from one world to another. Zwick previously made the hilarious My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which ignored clichés and exploded with grand humour. Here he goes in the total opposite direction quality wise. With Fat Albert he has a great concept regarding the two worlds but a lousy screenplay to express them. Kenan Thompson embodies the personality of Fat Albert and his buddies look every bit like reality cartoon characters. Pratt's tears on the remote thing just doesn't cut it. She will obviously gain friends and it lacks real feeling. Darnia Ramirez plays the standard flirty sister. Bill Cosby makes a brief appearance. The reality fantasy theme is intriguing but fat chance that it fascinates like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Score: 4 ½ / 10
Electrified_Voltage
A few months shy of four years ago, I saw some of this film (at least up to the part where Fat Albert sings and raps). It was during my last year of high school, and one of those days when we got a break in one class and got to see movies to fill the time. So basically, fate brought me to this 2004 adaptation of comedian Bill Cosby's 1970's-80's cartoon series, "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", and I doubt it would have ever really caught my attention otherwise. After all this time, I've finally seen the entire film, knowing it wasn't popular, and that it was more for kids, so it didn't surprise me when I found it to be a tad dull, even though I don't abhor it like many others seem to.Doris is an antisocial teenager in Philadelphia who hasn't been so happy since the death of her grandfather. One day, alone in front of her TV set, she cries. At this moment, "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" is on, and Fat Albert and the gang can see her on the other side! Fat Albert sees that Doris has a problem, and is determined to help her solve it, so he comes out of the TV into the real world, and most of the others soon follow! The show soon ends, and the gang find that they are stuck in the real world until the show comes back on at 2:30 the next day! So, Fat Albert and the gang then go around with Doris and try to help her make friends. Fat Albert falls in love with her foster sister, Lauri, and eventually, he and his friends find themselves fading, and may not be able to survive much longer outside the cartoon world! Meanwhile, back in the cartoon version of Philadelphia, now that Russell is the only one left in the gang, another gang attempts to take over the junkyard!I've seen comedies where I've kept a straight face throughout, and can't say this is one of them. I never laughed, but some parts made me smile, such as Fat Albert trying to squeeze his way out of the TV, and the salesman at a clothing store in the real world learning that Fat Albert doesn't have any money after he has tried on thousands of dollars worth of clothing. However, it didn't surprise me in the least that I didn't find most of the gags amusing at all. I have definitely seen much worse attempts at comedy than this, and unlike many modern comedies, nobody in this one ever farts, but I still found that most of the gags are mediocre. That isn't the only problem with this film. Kyla Pratt puts on a rather poor performance as Doris, and the writing is also poor. The premise with Doris and her woes was poorly crafted. I sometimes got a puzzled look on my face during the movie, but can't remember exactly what put that look on my face (guess these scenes aren't all that memorable). I have to admit, I did not grow up with "Fat Albert". The cartoon came to an end not long before I was born, and I never saw any reruns of it. To this day, I have only seen a couple episodes. So, while others have compared this movie to the show, saying it's inferior, I can basically only judge it as a movie. I think my 5/10 rating might just be a TAD generous, but to me, it doesn't really stand out as good or bad, pretty much just dull and forgettable. However, this is clearly a movie aimed at kids and maybe their parents, and I don't fall into either of those categories. If it wasn't for that time when I was forced to watch the first bit of it, I could have easily ended up never seeing it at all, and since I'm not part of the audience it was aimed at, that probably would have been no big deal. If you're not a kid or the parent of any kids, then I would say you might as well skip this film, except MAYBE if you're a hardcore Fat Albert fan.
MLDinTN
For the answer, just watch this. I can't understand how money could have been given to support this script. Maybe Bill Cosby paid for it all. Otherwise, I'm sure the executive who green lit this has been let go. The plot, which I think is the stupidest plot I've seen, involves the Fat Albert gang coming out of the TV into the real world. They are there to help Doris solve her problems, mainly being that she has no friends. And the gang begins to "fade" the longer they stay. The fading consists of wearing lighter shades of clothes, and other characters saying things like "you look like you're losing your color". Plus they can see through their hand and pants. The pants thing was just another unfunny joke.I can't say how unfunny and dumb this was. It wasn't good enough to be one of those bad movies you can't help but find amusing because it's so bad.FINAL VERDICT: The worst film I've ever seen. The story was so dumb and nothing was funny.
kevindick
Well, if you grew up watching Fat Albert in cartoon form and were looking for a nostalgic parody a la Scooby Doo, don't waste your money. Not to say this is the worst film I have ever seen, but I can't understand why they would choose to make the film for children that have no idea what Fat Albert is. Recently they did the same thing with the Bad News Bears.Fat Albert could have been a great 20 something movie that many people would have gone to see. Instead, it's almost like Disney got a hold of it. SNL did a parody of Fat Albert, with Keenan Thompson, that was actually funny. They should have stuck with that.It also didn't help that the Sandlot 2, straight to video, was teased in the previews. Should have been a premonition.
