A VERY BRADY SEQUEL
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 8/23/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:28 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Sexual innuendo, double entedres) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Shelley Long, Gary Cole, Christine Taylor, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jennifer Elise Cox, Paul Sutera, Olivia Hack, Jesse Lee, Henriette Mantel, Tim Matheson Director: Arlene Sanford Producers: Alan Ladd Jr., Sherwood Schwartz, and Lloyd J. Schwartz Screenplay: Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan and Stan Zimmerman & Jim Berg, based on the TV series created by Sherwood Schwartz Cinematography: Mac Ahlberg Music: Guy Moon U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Groovy platform shoes and bell-bottoms, happening floral prints, far out leisure suits, and a dreamy Davey Jones -- once again, we've been sent time tripping with the Bradys, the stuck-in-the-'70s clan living in the '90s. With the premise firmly established in last year's THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, A VERY BRADY SEQUEL offers more of the same: sexual innuendo, double entendres, and a truckload of references to the original series. Aficionados of the TV show will probably appreciate this film, as will those who enjoyed the first installment. After all, there's nothing new here -- this is just a continuation of the jokes and style that made the initial big-screen foray a surprise success. Even though the director has changed (Arlene Sanford replacing Betty Thomas), the two movies fit together so well that it's impossible to notice.
Shelly Long and Gary Cole are back as Carol and Mike Brady, parents to Greg (Christopher Daniel Barnes), Marsha (Christine Taylor), Peter (Paul Sutera), Jan (Jennifer Elise Cox), Bobby (Jesse Lee), and Cindy (Olivia Hack). In the last movie, the Brady clan faced the possible loss of their beloved house. On this occasion, the threat is a little more insidious. One day, a man claiming to be Carol's presumed-dead first husband, Roy Martin (Tim Matheson), arrives on the Brady's doorstep. Although he looks nothing like Roy and is six inches too tall (he got stepped on by an elephant and stretched on the rack), he is immediately accepted, and, because Mike believes that good manners are everything, even invited to stay as a guest. Unbeknownst to the Bradys, however, Roy isn't who he says he is, and his reasons for insinuating himself into the household have to do with a $20 million statue of whose value the Bradys are blissfully unaware.
Meanwhile, in some of the film's more amusing moments, after realizing that they're not really brother and sister, Marcia and Greg are fighting a powerful sexual attraction to each other. Jan is so desperate for a boyfriend that she makes one up. Peter is struggling with career decisions -- does he want to be an architect or an adventurer when he grows up? And Bobby and Cindy are busy playing Sherlock Holmes.
A VERY BRADY SEQUEL lacks the freshness of the first outing, but it makes up for it -- at least as much as it can -- with a slightly better plot structure. Nevertheless, there's only so far you can stretch an affectionate parody of the Bradys, and, like its predecessor, this film loses its momentum before the halfway mark. By the end, all the puns, "innocent" sex jokes, and nods to the series have become tiresome. The scenes of the Bradys blithely interacting with '90s culture don't have nearly the bite they should -- things are played a little too nice, a little too safe. The material in THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE couldn't sustain a ninety-minute feature, and neither can that in A VERY BRADY SEQUEL.
As was true of the 1995 film, the most remarkable aspect of the production is how it mimics the feel of the series. The sets are near- perfect recreations, and the performers look and act eerily like their TV predecessors. Unlike in THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, there aren't any cameos by former cast members, but a couple of witty links to other old TV shows (GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and I DREAM OF JEANNIE in particular) make up for it. A VERY BRADY SEQUEL has a light, breezy air that will probably appeal to a certain segment of the movie-going population, although it's a little too vacuous for my taste. At half its length, A VERY BRADY SEQUEL would have been fun, but, no incarnation of the Brady Bunch, no matter how cleverly satirized, can use up an hour and a half's screen time without making the audience feel like they've overdosed.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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