Fat Albert (2004)

“You can’t let fear keep you from caring about someone, because, caring about someone… is wonderful! A person you think about, and they think about you, and you both know you’re thinking of each other… , and it’s just fantastic to know that there is somebody out there in the world thinking about you.” – Fat Albert

Number of Times Seen – Twice (15 Aug 2008 and 22 Oct 2019)

Brief Synopsis – Fat Albert and his gang come out from their TV show in order to help a young girl who is having trouble making friends in high school.

My Take on it – As a kid, I was a fan of the Fat Albert animated series and also would listen to Bill Cosby’s comedy routines dealing with these characters.

This live action adaptation is quite fun but it tries much too hard to be even more poignant than it truly is.

The characters of Fat Albert and his gang are brought to life before our eyes and they do a nice job making them all seem quite reminiscent of the characters from the animated series.

Really liked the way that this film deals with the idea that these characters are no longer in their own world is done in a very clever way which starts off subtlety and slowly becomes much more prominent in the way the story flows.

Keenan Thompson is a great choice for the title character and the ever present smile and happy go lucky attitude adds to making this a bit more enjoyable even though the story and its premise are still quite simplistic.

They have a great cameo by the series creator and many other characters that might possibly be the inspirations for the various members of this gang.

The biggest problem here tho is the fact that the story is a bit too silly and doesn’t work on any level besides allowing young children to get a slight taste of who these characters are and how they work together.

Bottom Line – Fun film that isn’t as poignant as it would probably like to be yet it still manages to stay enjoyable part of the way through. The characters of Fat Albert and his gang are brought to life quite well and are very reminiscent of the various characters from the animated show. The way that they deal with the fact that these characters are no longer in their own word is clever and despite starting out in a subtle way, they help make things more enjoyable. Thompson is superb as the title character and his everlasting smile makes things work slightly better despite some of the mere simplicity of the film and its premise. Great cameo by the creator of this series along with possible inspirations for all of the various characters along the way. Unfortunately tho, the story is a bit too silly to make it work on any level besides allowing children to get a taste of this group of characters.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – An open casting call was held in both New York and Los Angeles in hopes to cast an unknown kid actor for the role of Fat Albert. After the exhaustive search in both cities proved futile, the producers offered the part to Kenan Thompson. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (6/10)