The Addams Family (1991)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers (WGA):

Charles Addams (characters)
Caroline Thompson (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 November 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

It's not the same old Thing.

Plot:

Con artists plan to fleece the eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long lost Uncle Fester.

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Uncle Fester | Loan Shark | Macabre | Accountant

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Anjelica Huston	...	Morticia Addams
Raul Julia	...	Gomez Addams
Christopher Lloyd	...	Uncle Fester / Gordon Craven
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Abigail Craven / Dr. Greta Pinder-Schloss
Christina Ricci	...	Wednesday Addams
Judith Malina	...	Grandma
Dan Hedaya	...	Tully Alford, Addams' Attorney
Carel Struycken	...	Lurch
Paul Benedict	...	Judge Womack
Christopher Hart	...	Thing
Dana Ivey	...	Margaret Alford / Margaret Addams
Jimmy Workman	...	Pugsley Addams
John Franklin	...	Cousin Itt
Tony Azito	...	Digit Addams
Douglas Brian Martin	...	Dexter Addams

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #30985) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Brentwood Theatre - 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Writer Paul Rudnick did rewrites on the film and subsequently wrote the sequel, Addams Family Values (1993).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the bottom of the slide, on the way to the vault, Festers right hand is incorrectly switching between being at his side or at his throat between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gomez: [to Thing] Think of it, Thing. For twenty-five years we've attempted to contact Fester in the great beyond, and for twenty-five years, nothing. I'm beginning to think my brother truly is lost.

Movie Connections:

References House of Usher (1960)

Soundtrack:

La Folia

A lot of fun.

Although not all feature film versions of classic TV series have worked out, this enjoyable dark comedy from 1991 is one of the rare few to really entertain.

Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) are the parental units of a macabre and twisted yet ultimately loving family that also includes their children Wednesday (Christina Ricci, in one of her earliest roles) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman - whatever happened to him?), Granny (Judith Malina) and their associates Lurch (Carel Struycken) and Thing (Christopher Hart's hand). Their slimy attorney Tully (a well-cast Dan Hedaya) makes the acquaintance of Gordon (Christopher Lloyd), the brutish son of the harridan (Elizabeth Wilson) to whom Tully is in debt. Tully, after noticing the remarkable resemblance Gordon has to the Addams' long-lost Uncle Fester, plants him in the household so that Gordon can attempt to plunder their fortune.

This simple plot actually leads to a reasonably well-written movie with impressive design and effects, and lots of good laughs. The actors play their parts so well I can't help but be impressed. Although the world of the Addams family is the brainchild of Charles Addams, I also find it reminiscent of a Tim Burton-type imagination as well.

One sequence that works quite well is when the Addams are forced from their home and forced to live in "the real world". Thing even gets a job as a courier for Fed Ex!

I think that it's very entertaining and I don't think I'd notice the flaws if I placed it under a microscope. Good job, all around.

"Are your girl scout cookies made from real girl scouts?"

10/10