The Family Just Got a Little Stranger (Addams Family Values (DVD))

Member Name: 3rd Rock Satan

Product:	Addams Family Values (DVD)
Date:	01/09/04 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast, Wickedly funny

Disadvantages: Quite similiar to first

Spawning a TV series, a cartoon and three feature length films as well as the familiar merchandise, The Addams Family may be weird but they are loved. Their darkly comic actions and reactions to life have always gained a loving audience and although the third film, Addams Family Reunion, was badly thought out, acted and unnecessary the first two movies have both been a critical and commercial success.

The sequel begins with a new arrival to the family. The two lovebirds Gomez (the late Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) have been at it again and the little boy Pubert (bizarrely played by both Katilyn and Kristen Hooper) is unleashed upon the world. Unfortunately Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and Wednesday (Christina Ricci) are not best pleased they have to share a house with another sibling and so they play innocent games with the little scamp and try to kill him in the process. In order to try and make sure Pubert makes it through to his first birthday Gomez and Morticia hire a nanny to take care of him. The nanny (Joan Cusak) is soon noticed by Uncle Fester (Christopher Llyod) and they soon fall in love and get married. However unbeknown to the family Debbie the nanny is actually a wanted criminal who marries rich men, kills them and makes off with their money. Soon Uncle Fester is taken away from the family, Pubert goes through some dramatic changes and the kids are sent to the vilest place on earth, summer camp.

The sequel does seem to follow the same pattern as the first film. The family is happy, and then comes a stranger, the family falls apart then all is well in the end. However in the sequel it seems more closely knit. With Uncle Fester now a recognised family member (not having amnesia helps a bundle) it means that the film can be
jokier and more familiar than the first from the offset. Speaking of the jokes the dark humour is still as quirky and sharp as ever in this film. The whole Uncle Fester and Debbie thing it totally tongue in cheek and the ways Wednesday and Pugsley try to get rid of Pubert are often very chuckle inducing. The Summer Camp escapades are never crigngeworthy thanks to Pugsley and especially Wednesday inducing their own, distinct style on proceedings. Wednesday comes across a new love interest and they both have a rival in the form of Amanda Buckman (Mercedes McNab, who Buffy and Angel fans will recognise as a very young Harmony) a sickly sweet all American gal. The two vomit-inducing camp leaders Gary (Peter MacNicol) and Becky Granger (Christine Baranski) are just what you would expect two American camp leaders to be, very cheery, very energetic and very annoying. With all this in place the Summer Camp scenes are a joy, not a chore, to watch. The humour is also carried on the great dialogue. There are many, many one-liners that will have you giggling. When asked in Uncle Fester has any women follow him he just says ?store detectives?, when Wednesday is questioned why she is dressed as if she is going to a funeral she replies ?wait? and Gomez tells Fester that he will meet someone special and who ?wont press charges?. These lines are dotted all the way throughout the film and will sound funnier when said out loud by their respective characters. The film never lets up or gets lazy. It would have been easy to have the humour be all Addams style and no substance but the film delivers both.

The style of the Addams Family is, not surprisingly, dark and gothic which is reflected in the house. However we see a lot less of that than in the first film. The styl
e, though, is carried on with the family members that although not central to the film reinforce the Addams ethos that quirky is good. Thing is obviously the prime candidate. The little hand is seen throughout the film and not just as a gimmick. Lurch is seen less during this film, as is the Grandmother, but both are as good on screen as ever. There are also some lovely additions to the cast. The stand out one and by far and away one of the cutest things I?ve ever seen is the little baby ?What? (Cousin Its baby son). Such things are maybe not needed and the film could have got away without inclusions of some elements and people but by including them the charm of the first film still remains.

With such a stella cast in the film the acting is remarkably done. Julia and Huston now both own the roles of Gomez and Morticia and have their roles down to perfection remaining both straight-faced and yet mildly insane throughout the film. Lloyd as Fester can annoy but it is arguably in his nature to be loud mouthed, bumbling and a bit clueless. However it is quite unlikely to imagine anyone give it as much gusto as Lloyd manages to. Cusak is a great addition to the film. She hams up the role as the psycho nanny. While it is apparent that her cleavage gets the starring role as well as Cusak herself, her snarling lines and over the top attitude really do make her a remarkable and odd villain of the piece. The big shining star of the film is, predictably, Christina Ricci. The two films really did catapult her into fame and it will probably be what she is most remembered for, whether she likes it or not. Like Gomez and Morticia you cannot really see anybody else filling her shoes. She plays her role in complete deadpan. She is moody without being bratty, witty without even trying and slightly evil but you cant help but love her. It
is not just the main characters that are pleasing. The well-known cast extends to the summer campgrounds and the acting doesn?t take a dose dive there either. Each person plays his or her role perfectly something that can sometimes be hard to judge right in a comedy, especially a black one.

The film doesn?t really stumble in many major areas. As mentioned before it doesn?t really stray too far away from its originals routes but it still works the second time around anyway for you not to care. It would have been nice to see a bit more of the family, such as Lurch and Grandma Addams as it seems that when the kids go to summer camp we leave the house while we see their exploits. Not such a bad thing at all seeing as it really is so amusing but a bit more would have been nice. However what we do get, the transformation of Pubert, is deadly funny. Again, it also would have been amusing to see a bit more of Debbie?s and Uncle Festers relationship post the wedding night. However a movie can only last so long and so wanting this could have made an overly long and overly boring film.

The Addams Family Values is a rarity in the world of films where it actually improves upon the original. Not everyone will agree but I found the sequel to be a lot funnier and exciting than the first one and for this it should be commended as not just being a lazy sequel to cash in on the firsts success. Whether the joke would have carried on to the third is debatable. I don?t class Addams Family Reunion as a full-blown second sequel to the series as it replaced every single cast member. However if the irreplaceable Raul Julia were still here it could have very well have been we would have had a ?proper? trilogy of films.

If you were a fan of the first film then you should really check this out if you haven?t already as it improves upon it in ever
y aspect. If you are a fan of comedies black and plain then this should also be high on the list of movies you should watch. Despite being a decade old this still remains fresh and the humour as sharp and funny as ever.


THE ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES IS
Darkly funny
Incredibly acted
Better than the first

THE ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES IS NOT

A lazy sequel
Too different from the first
A family to role model yourself on

Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php

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