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The Addams Family
A clever screenplay, outrageous set pieces, and a terrific cast make the 1991 comedy The Addams a gothic comedy gem.
Based on comic strip characters by Charles Addams which then became a popular sitcom in the 1960's, this is the story of an eccentric family of characters living in a gothic house that puts Norman Bates' house to shame. This film version delves a little into the roots of the family which includes patriarch Gomez (Raul Julia), a lawyer who never practices law but goes nuts whenever wife Morticia (Anjelica Huston) speaks French. They have two children named Wednesday and Pugley who are into some often sadistic play. Also living in the house are Morticia's mother, a manservant named Lurch who resembles Frankenstein, a pet lion named Kitty, and a hand servant (who is just a hand) named Thing.
The primary story here is a group of con artists who think they can bulk the Addams out of their millions because one of them (Christopher Lloyd) bears an uncanny resemblance to Gomez' brother Fester, who, after a terrible argument with Gomez, was lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
If the truth be told, the story is so not the attraction here, but the presentation of these characters and their gothic existence, presented as if the sitcom never existed, perhaps borrowing more inspiration from the original comic strip. Former film editor Barry Sonnenfield made an impressive directorial debut here, establishing the Halloween-brought-to-life atmosphere that this creepy family inhabits. I just loved the visit to the family graveyard and Wednesday's electric chair and the bagged lunches that Lurch hands the children that contain something alive and wriggling. Not to mention Morticia's gardening...she takes fully grown roses, cuts off the blooms and arranges the stems.
There are some outrageous set pieces that sometime shock and always amuse...love the family cuckoo clock that appears near the opening and Gomez' secret hideaway where he attempts to connect with FauxFester. Sonnenfeld's casting is also on the money, led by Julia and Huston whose white hot chemistry lights up the screen and provides major grins throughout. Lloyd is terrific, as always, and young Christina Ricci became an official movie star with her scene-stealing turn as the stone-faced Wednesday. Also loved the criminally underrated Elizabeth Wilson as the venemous villianess.
The production values are superb with special nods to editing (no surprise with Sonnenfeld at the helm), art design, makeup, and Ruth Myer's Oscar-nominated costumes. A delicious comic romp that the entire family can enjoy together. It was followed by a sequel called Addams Family Values and the characters also came to Broadway in 2010 with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth playing Gomez and
Morticia.
A clever screenplay, outrageous set pieces, and a terrific cast make the 1991 comedy The Addams a gothic comedy gem.
Based on comic strip characters by Charles Addams which then became a popular sitcom in the 1960's, this is the story of an eccentric family of characters living in a gothic house that puts Norman Bates' house to shame. This film version delves a little into the roots of the family which includes patriarch Gomez (Raul Julia), a lawyer who never practices law but goes nuts whenever wife Morticia (Anjelica Huston) speaks French. They have two children named Wednesday and Pugley who are into some often sadistic play. Also living in the house are Morticia's mother, a manservant named Lurch who resembles Frankenstein, a pet lion named Kitty, and a hand servant (who is just a hand) named Thing.
If the truth be told, the story is so not the attraction here, but the presentation of these characters and their gothic existence, presented as if the sitcom never existed, perhaps borrowing more inspiration from the original comic strip. Former film editor Barry Sonnenfield made an impressive directorial debut here, establishing the Halloween-brought-to-life atmosphere that this creepy family inhabits. I just loved the visit to the family graveyard and Wednesday's electric chair and the bagged lunches that Lurch hands the children that contain something alive and wriggling. Not to mention Morticia's gardening...she takes fully grown roses, cuts off the blooms and arranges the stems.
There are some outrageous set pieces that sometime shock and always amuse...love the family cuckoo clock that appears near the opening and Gomez' secret hideaway where he attempts to connect with FauxFester. Sonnenfeld's casting is also on the money, led by Julia and Huston whose white hot chemistry lights up the screen and provides major grins throughout. Lloyd is terrific, as always, and young Christina Ricci became an official movie star with her scene-stealing turn as the stone-faced Wednesday. Also loved the criminally underrated Elizabeth Wilson as the venemous villianess.
The production values are superb with special nods to editing (no surprise with Sonnenfeld at the helm), art design, makeup, and Ruth Myer's Oscar-nominated costumes. A delicious comic romp that the entire family can enjoy together. It was followed by a sequel called Addams Family Values and the characters also came to Broadway in 2010 with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth playing Gomez and
Morticia.