Addams Family Values
On the rare occasion when a sequel is actually better than the original film that spawned it, the defining factors can be any number of things. In the case of this 1993 follow up in the would be franchise that was The Addams Family, it would have to be said that the big difference maker was undoubtedly the script. The original film from 1991 showed sparks of brilliance at times, but was weighed down by a bloated excuse for a backstory that had Christopher Lloydâs Uncle Fester returning to the family only to turn out to be an imposter, the son of a female loan shark who was looking to use her sonâs resemblance to Fester in order to take control of the familyâs estate and drive Gomez and the others out in the process. The twist happy ending of course, was that the imposter turned out to be the REAL Fester after all, albeit stricken with amnesia and made to believe that the duplitious woman who had taken him in was his real mother when in actuality he just needed to have his memory restored (which it was) so that at the very end of the movie we could finally see the family truly reunited. But this also resulted in things being dragged out indefinitely while waiting for that particular twist and making many realize that just having Fester already well ensconced within the family at the BEGINNING of the film (as he was on the old TV show) would have been much more appropriate so that we could have a real movie instead of an ongoing game of charades when it came to the story itself. This time out, the writing duties were assigned to just one person in Paul Rudnick (well known for writing articles in Premiere Magazine under the alias Libby Gelman Waxner) who had done some uncredited script doctoring on the mess of a screenplay that had been the first film and here with the comforting knowledge that Lloydâs Fester was indisputably part of the family now and there to stay, he was able to come up with a comically sharp, at times even audacious concept that worked to a charm in both exploiting the familyâs absurdity as well as their interactions with the outside world of ânormalâ people (something that was only remotely touched upon in Part 1 but here was played out to its full potential). The defining story element here right from the beginning is with the birth of the new Addams baby, Pubert whom just like his father Gomez (Raul Julia returning in what would be his last released film before his sudden and tragic death, an occurrence which no doubt shuddered any plans for any possible future sequels with this cast) is blessed with slicked back black hair and a little penciled in moustache. This enables the script to then split the story off in three different directions, jumping back and forth between each one constantly which keeps the pacing crisp and the viewer completely into whatâs happening. The interesting thing about the whole Addams Family persona (something which is implied heavily throughout with many of the quips and one liners on display) is in the idea that despite their (mostly) good natured attitudes, they really are just a family of degenerates, capable of having possibly carried out the most twisted crimes imaginable and yes, possibly even something resembling âevilâ, but the approach instead smartly portrays their proclivities as being more ânon conformistâ than anything else such as when an admiring female tells Gomez that he must be a real âladykillerâ to which he proudly proclaims âAcquitted!â (did he actually kill a woman and get away with it??) or when Gomez counsels Fester that one day heâll find the right woman âwho wonât press chargesâ (what the hell did Fester do to a woman that he would get charges pressed against him for??). Anyhow, besides the commotion over the new arrival at The Addams household, the other story threads include the hiring of a new nanny who soon charms and then marries Fester all while having the full intention of murdering him so that she can inherit all of his money (something which sheâs done before). As played by Joan Cusack (doing a combo spoof of both Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and Rebecca De Mornay in Hand That Rocks The Cradle), we finally get a comic villain worthy of the franchise as opposed to Dan Hedayaâs boring, overacted crooked lawyer in Part 1. Cusackâs Debbie Jellinsky works brilliantly because of the irony of her character since as we come to realize just how twisted a sociopath she really is, the more we also realize in many ways really just how PERFECT she is to be a candidate to marry into the family despite her evil intentions for Fester (and eventually the rest of the family themselves) which is something that the script smartly makes a point to realize and acknowledge despite the fact that she will come to a bad end (and be buried in The Addamsesâ infamous cemetary alongside the other degenerates and serial killers in there) even as her hilarious attempts to âaccidentallyâ bump off Fester usually misfire because Fester himself is almost like a barely human freak of nature. However, the film really hits its stride with the third intersected storyline. Having obviously noticed the overly positive response that Christina Ricci had received from the first film as Wednesday Addams, this time out both Rudnick and returning director Barry Sonnenfeld really decided to hand her the ball and let her run with it (with Jimmy Workmanâs Pugsley still doing solid support as her straight man) as the two of them (because of various attempts on baby Pubertâs life) find themselves being sent off to a summer camp (which as we find out is very expensive since it only caters to the rich and upscaled crowds) and immediately run afoul of the deliriously fake yet hilarious happy happy joy joy head counselors (Peter MacNichol and Christine Baranski) and the bevy of other spoiled rich kids on hand. But they also find themselves allies with a nerdy kid (David Krumholtz) who develops an intense crush on Wednesday along with a slew of other âoutcastâ kids who also find themselves being given the cold shoulder for various reasons (including having an inadequate racial profile). Indeed, as MacNicholâs sunny camp counselor demeanor gives way to an almost indoctrinating attitude (including locking non conformist kids in a special cabin and forcing them to watch Disney movies which in turn finally compels Wednesday to crack something resembling a smile in the single best moment of the entire franchise), he finally forces the kids to take part in his special Thanksgiving pageant that he himself has written and composed (and refers to as âhis visionâ) which reveals him to actually be an out right racist (albeit with all smiles) and which results in Wednesday and the others (cast as the âsavageâ Indians in the Thanksgiving setting) turning the tables on the rich kids (and their parents) as they lay waste to both the play and the camp itself, burning it down to the ground. Through it all, Ricciâs composure and complete grasp of her character is downright astonishing, easily earning her the MVP honors for this entry (although Cusack does her part well also). As for the top billed Anjelica Huston, her Morticia has little else to do here except have a baby in the opening scene and make romantic overtures with Gomez, but at least her and Gomez get to have one show stopping dance number before spending most of their screen time fretting over both Fester and their baby who suddenly appears healthy and normal complete with blonde hair and whom now is considered by them to be âsickâ. This also gives Carol Kane (replacing Judith Malina from the first movie) as Grandmama the chance to actually do something of note here while Carel Struyckenâs Lurch is more or less a glorified extra except for maybe a couple of closeups (why nobody managed to see any plot thread potential with Lurch in these films is a mystery even as Struycken himself along with Christopher Hart as Thing were the only ones to return for the low budget, direct to video third film in the series which featured Tim Curry as Gomez and a black wigged Daryl Hannah as Morticia). Regardless, this will probably remain the defining movie in the entire Addams Franchise, mainly due to Cusackâs craziness and Ricciâs peerless work here, playing a character that she obviously understood so well that she could have easily starred in further films with her playing Wednesday possibly as being a grown up main characterâŚ
8/10