ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: In a second-rate plot punctuated by
some first-rate jokes, the new Addams Family film tells the
story of what happens when a new baby and a murderous nanny
come to the Addams household. Lots of funny gags in the
ghoulish Addams style fail to save the rather uninteresting
plot. Rating +1 (-4 to +4).
Yes, it's time for another visit to the little house out in the middle of nowhere, the Addams House. Perhaps it is out in the middle of nowhere because nobody could stand to move next to the Addams, or perhaps it was once a thriving neighborhood before the darling Addams children were let loose on it. In either case, back are Gomez (Raoul Julia), Morticia (Angelica Huston), Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), Wednesday (Christina Ricci), Thing (Francis Ingram), and the rest of the Addams clan. The characters are based on those of the television series which in turn were inspired by the ghoulish New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. Unfortunately that sums up the strengths and weaknesses of the new film and its predecessor. Magazine cartoons have no plot at all, just quick-punch jokes. Where the two Addams Family films are their strongest is in the quick-punch jokes. When the film tries to advance a plot it loses most of its energy and humor, and tells a rather weak story. It is only when the story-telling comes to a full halt for the sake of a joke that the film is really funny.
This time around the Addams have a new baby and little Wednesday and Pugsley decide to execute the little thing as ghoulishly as possible to protect the status quo. To keep peace in the family Gomez and Morticia hire a nanny who turns out to be a Black Widow murderess (Joan Cusack) out to marry and kill Uncle Fester for his fortune. Did I miss something? The plot calls for Fester to be rich and famous. I do not remember that ever being part of the plot before this outing. The story also calls for Wednesday and Pugsley to go to Summer Camp. So we flash back and forth between the Addams at home, a married-to-a-killer subplot, and a Wednesday- and-Pugsley-make-a-shambles-of-a-Summer-Camp subplot. The two subplots have been done better as full-length films in the past. There is also an equation of Wednesday's and Pugsley's eccentricities with positive political correctness. The latter really was a fiasco and threatens to torpedo the whole spirit of the series.
Still, when it is just showing little vignettes that could have come from Addams cartoons, it is terrific. We have very little impression of what Addams characters are like between the little flashbulb glimpses we get from the cartoons, so Huston's and Julia's performances are based on the interpretations of John Astin and Carolyn Jones. It is not easy to outdo an actor at a popular role that actor created. That is like trying to do Inspector Clouseau better than Peter Sellers. But Julia and Huston actually outdo Astin and Jones at their own game. This is a film with big ups and big downs so overall it gets just a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. (My apologies to Christopher Hart who did such a good job as Thing. Attributing the part to Ingram was something of an inside joke though I doubt that anyone will recognize the reference to Francis Ingram. Anyone want to try to identify that name?)
Mark R. Leeper
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