THE ADDAMS FAMILY
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
100 min., PG-13, Comedy, 1991 Director: Barry Sonnenfeld Cast: Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Elizabeth Wilson, Judith Malina, Dan Hedaya, Jimmy Workman
Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston head the bizarre Addams family. Julia has a fortune in money hidden in his gigantic house. An evil family wants to take Julia's money. They send in Christopher Lloyd, who looks just like Julia's brother, Uncle Fester who disappeared twenty years before. Lloyd has to fit in with the Addams family in order to find out where the money is hidden.
I found THE ADDAMS FAMILY to be a very good and funny film. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is slapstick comedy, but not as good as THE NAKED GUN 2+: THE SMELL OF FEAR. On a zero to five scale I give it a four. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is rated PG-13 for explicit language and adult situations.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY, until just recently, has been playing in most of the big theaters, it is now playing in the smaller theaters, and will soon be coming to video. I just saw the film at a reduced rate, and found it worth the money. I highly recommend if you are a fan of comedy you watch this film at a small theater or wait for the video. Not everybody will like this film however. My father gave up on the film after about ten minutes because he said that the film was pointless, plotless, and filled with corny gags. My mother was not very impressed with the film either because she said that it had a stupid plot, was pointless, and during the entire film she laughed only four times. However, I know several people who enjoyed the film very much. So, because of the wide range of reaction to the film you might want to wait for the video so that you don't feel that you wasted your money.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY is based on an old black-and-white television show by the same name. The actors/actresses have been changed. I have never seen the television show so I don't know if it is like the film, but episodes have recently come out on video because of the popularity of the movie and I plan to rent them to see if they are any good.
My favorite character/thing in the film was the hand; I also feel that it was the most likable thing in the film. I liked the idea of having just a hand and giving it personality, however, it is totally unrealistic, and that might turn some people off from the film. I also really liked the Addam's neighbor. He's not on for much time but was funny when he was on. The two kids Pugsly and Wednesday (played, in order, by Jimmy Workman and Christina Ricci) were cool, but not as good as the rest of the cast. I felt their roles were under written. Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston were ... well ... bizarre. And Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmett Brown in the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy) was good, and funny, as the fake Uncle Fester.
Ken J.
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