“Fat Albert” (20th Century Fox)
On the surface turning the animated TV series “Fat Albert” into a live action movie appears to be a bad idea. But in the actual doing of it, the movie turns out to be a nice, sweet family film full of good values. It should score solidly with kids and is more entertaining for adults than anyone could have expected.
The way to make a cartoon palatable for the audience is to have the characters in the movie know they are cartoons. In “Fat Albert” the characters from the TV show come to life, and travel through the TV, due to a tear falling on the remote. The tear is from the eyes of a girl named Doris (Kyla Pratt) who thinks she doesn’t fit in at her school.
Fat Albert (Kenan Thompson) is the first through the set, and then the whole gang follows. They spend a couple of days giving Doris confidence and getting into a variety of situations. Albert even goes to the home of Bill Cosby and talks with his creator. At this point the audience learns the backstory of how and why “Fat Albert” was created.
Everything in this film is positive with even the villain, Reggie (Omari Grandberry), being a nice guy at heart. It is a Bill Cosby production in every way with the kind of message and morals this man always promotes.
Thompson makes a great “Fat Albert.” He looks the part, moves like he should, and even has that special “Fat Albert” gleam in his eye. The rest of the cast give him able support with Pratt being nearly perfect as the girl with the problem.
The movie is rated PG for mild comic violence.
“Fat Albert” is a movie that accentuates the positive and still manages to provide laughs and fun for kids of all ages. Plus adults who bring their kids will have a pretty good time too. They won’t be blown away but they will manage to make it through without being bored to tears.
I scored “Fat Albert” a biggie sized 6 out of 10.
