Review of Fat Albert (2004) by Catherine S — 08 Apr 2011

Fat Albert is better than most childrens' films that 20th Century Fox has released, but just that isn't good enough to warrant it as decent family entertainment with bland jokes, mediocre acting, and the fact that a Fat Albert movie probably wasn't a very good idea to start.

Fat Albert is based on the popular animated kids show from the 1970's called "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", which was made by Bill Cosby himself. Instead of Fat Albert being an animated version of the cartoon, we add in a sort of interesting but not well executed plot. The movie stars Doris, a depressed and lonely teenager trying to cope with the death of her grandfather. Her sister tries to help her, but she decides that moping is a better solution. While watching "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", one of her tears breaks the barrier between the real world and the animated world and creates a hole that Fat Albert and the gang climb through. Hijinks ensue as they try to help Doris become happy once again as well as try to return to their home.

20th Century Fox has greenlighted a lot of crap over the past few years like both of the "Garfield" movies as well as the two "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movies, so their track record for movies based on animated television shows or cartoon characters in general isn't so hot. Fat Albert is probably one of their better adaptions. It has a good heart and if given a choice between Fat Albert and Garfield, I'd pick Fat Albert. But then again, that's not saying much. The humor is incredibly bland, with only an occasional line making me smile. Like I said, the acting is mediocre with Bill Cosby himself being maybe the only good actor in this film. It seemed like a really late idea to transfer Fat Albert to the big screen, and let's be honest, how many kids even know who Fat Albert is? The majority probably don't.

So overall, while Fat Albert isn't flat out horrible, it's nothing to get excited about either. If your kids want to see it, go ahead. It's not insulting, though parts certainly show their age. On an added note, this may be Keenan Thompson's best film to date. But then again, his track record isn't so hot (Good Burger). (Real rating: 44%).