Addams Family Values

Starring: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Carel Struycken, Dana Ivey, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, David Krumholtz, Peter MacNicol, Christine Baranski, Nathan Lane, Cynthia Nixon, David Hyde Pierce, Peter Graves, Tony Shalhoub
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
1993

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: The Addams Family is infiltrated by a scheming black widow (Joan Cusack) who is determined to take Uncle Fester's (Christopher Lloyd) money.

Review:

Tim: I have to admit, I'm just not a fan of The Addams Family. Sure, I understand the intent of the show, how it's spoofing American families and all that. I get it, but I don't like it. The first movie was decent, but not very enjoyable. This sequel follows the exact same path. It's fine, I suppose. Barry Sonnenfeld is a talented director and he brings a certain amount of flair to the film. Unfortunately, it all seems absurd and ultimately pointless. I simply didn't care about any of the characters in this film, hence I couldn't get interested in the events that take place. I guess this movie is close to the quality of the original, although it's still a middling affair.

This film's story made an interesting choice that I don't believe helped the film. It focuses much more on the character of Uncle Fester- he gets a significant amount of screen time as he's hooked by a deadly woman who wants to take his money and murder him. This plot feels in line with the general tone of the movie, and it's somewhat entertaining to see the Addams Family have to defend one of their own. This is never taken to the proper place, though. The Addams' feel surprisingly inert for much of the movie. They accomplish very little. I've never seen such a reactionary family. That's part of the humor, but it doesn't make for compelling protagonists. Even the climactic finale has nearly the entire clan immobile. They're always saved by coincidence or fate, never through their own actions. Why is that fun to watch for any length of time?

But, like I said, focusing of Fester wasn't the best choice. I love that Christopher Lloyd got a chance to play a bigger role here, but this contributes to minimizing the screen time of Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia. Huston and Julia are two of the standouts here and their roles felt too small here. Fester is fine, but this franchise should have been more about Morticia and Gomez. Having one clever dance scene isn't enough. I felt like the movie was hurt by not getting more substantial time from Huston and Julia. When you sideline your two standouts, that is never going to help the film. So, I appreciated the extra time with Lloyd, but Fester is a supporting character for a reason. I found myself growing tired of him, wishing he was more relegated to the sidelines.

On the other hand, sending Wednesday and Pugsley off to summer camp was a brilliant idea. By isolating the kids from the rest of the family, they are forced to fend for themselves. It also sets up some of the best moments of the film- the contrast between the Addams kids and the "normal" summer camp children. These are the funniest and most vivid scenes of the film. It helps immensely to put these kids in a unique, fish-out-of-water scenario, verses having them with their like-minded family. This does result in the best scene in the film, the First Thanksgiving Play. I can't tell you how excellent this sequence is. It's perfectly framed and delivers real, authentic laughs. Wendy has the Indians getting revenge on the pilgrims in a violent, over-the-top coup. It's exceptionally well done and it's the one great sequence in the film.

The rest of the movie, I just didn't much like. Maybe I'm soft in my older age, but the idea of two children trying to torture and kill a baby doesn't seem funny to me. I'm not sure Pubert (hilarious name, by the way) preventing his untimely death through absurd means makes up for the fact that the two children in this PG-13 movie spend the first half trying to kill a baby. How is that humorous? I also didn't especially care about Fester, so his dangerous situations never felt all that interesting, either.

Huston and Julia are both strong in their smaller roles. I thought Lloyd did a good job, even though his character isn't the best. Joan Cusack was a breath of fresh air here. She swoops into the film, bringing so much energy that it's impossible to look away from her. It felt like she was significantly more interesting than the Addams'. Cusack was hands-down one of the best parts of the film and is a big reason why the movie was at least decent. Christina Ricci once again gives an especially strong performance as Wednesday and Jimmy Workman was fine as Pugsley. It was fun seeing Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski in their absurd roles. I liked seeing the too-short appearances of Nathan Lane and Tony Shalhoub. The cast here was quite strong, as a whole.

Now, I find it fascinating that this film was a box office bomb. It was nominated for 1 Academy Award- Best Art Direction-Set Direction, but audiences stayed away. The first movie made $113 million at the domestic box office, a very impressive number in 1991. Two years later, Addams Family Values could only manage $48 million. That's a stunning drop. I read articles that blamed the poor showing on Mrs. Doubtfire sucking all the oxygen out of the box office shortly after this movie was released. But, I think that's shifting the blame. My personal opinion (not without bias) is that viewers didn't generally like the first movie. Sure, it was new, a novel reimagining of an old television show and people went to see it. But, it wasn't very good and two years later, far fewer people were willing to invest their time and money to go to the theaters. If they had, they would have seen another decent but lackluster film. There was no reason for audiences to see this movie, because it's not good. That's what I think.

I don't dislike Addams Family Values- Sonnenfeld directs a decent movie and there's a few big strengths here. However, this whole franchise feels underwhelming to me. I have seen this movie before, but I honestly remembered so little about it, other than it wasn't very good. I'm glad this film bombed as it put this franchise back on the shelf (where it belongs).

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Addams Family, Men in Black