MovieChat Forums > The Addams Family (1991) Discussion > 24 years later: not good

24 years later: not good

posted 9 years ago by Bneidl
27 replies | jump to latest

When this was relesaed in 1991 I was indifferent. I saw it with some friends, thought it was ok but nothing to write home about.

But I re-watched for the first time on Netflix a couple of nights ago and found myself severely annoyed by it.

This movie is nothing more than actors playing dress-up. There's no story -- not really, not one that anyone could care about. It isn't funny, unless your idea of funny is just recognizing references to stuff in an old tv show ("Ha ha look there's cousin It"). It's purely about putting actors in outlandish costumes on outlandish sets, mugging for the camera.

I can't imagine that Barry Sonnenfeld's direction consisted of anything more than telling the actors to make "big" faces, because, boy, does Sonnenfeld like his zoom-ins on big, show-offy, actorly expressions. "Gomez: big smile!" "Morticia: look droll!" "Fester: big smile!" "Wednesday: look droll!"

I recall that this earned points with the critics back in the day because it was "ironic." That is, I guess we're to tell from the subtle twist of Angelica Huston's lips, or Raoul Julia's wink, that they're all "in on the joke." But who cares if the joke sucks in the first place.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not being a snob here. I like popular entertainment and Hollywood fare as much as the next guy. But there's got to be some kind of story in there. I don't like this kind of thing where the sole artistic impetus is: Hey, isn't this funny to see (then) modern actors dressed up in silly, "fabulous" costumes from that weird old show?

Reminds me of the universally-despised Joel Schumacher Batman films.

[–] FourthYear 9 years ago

Wow, I entirely cannot disagree with you more. I also re-watched this on Netflix recently for the first time in probably 20 years, and I was absolutely delighted by how playful, creative, and entertaining this movie still is. The macabre, the absurdity, and the over-the-top passion of the cast all make it a fantastic film.

Claiming that there's no story here as you do is absolutely foolish. Did you somehow miss the entire concept of an impostor pretending to be the long-lost brother, returning to the family, realizing how well he fit, and coming to learn he IS the long lost brother, all while being played as part of a get-rich-quick... you know what? I don't have the time to point this out. I'll just say again that claiming there's no story is foolish of you.

[–] matthewurban 8 years ago

Agreed

[–] Imshortok06 9 years ago

This movie is hilarious and charming in a very macabre, unexpected way.

[–] TheBeardedWonder 9 years ago

I kind of agree, the 'irony' gimmick is 90% of the jokes. It's routine gets old pretty quickly to me. We get it, they're into dark/depressing things. They're the opposite of most people, we understood it already. You don't need to bash us over the head with it in literally every scene. It's one gag repeated for 90 minutes and called a movie.

Oh they like the rain, most people don't, hahaha! She cuts the flower part of roses off and keeps the stems, har har har! Oh the little girls sits underneath the chair instead of on it, how weird and quirky! Ugh, enough already. It became grating within a few minutes, I can't believe someone thought a whole movie of it would be a good idea. Sure i've seen worse movies, but i've probably seen equally as many better ones...

'Get yourself a real dog. Any dog under 50 lbs is a cat and cats are pointless' - Ron Swanson

[–] jsn_hylnd 9 years ago

Yeah but at least we had Elizabeth Wilson nailing the role of Pinderschloss, she was terrific in every scene and just simply nailed the role to perfection.

[–] ForTheNonce 9 years ago

Did you ever watch the show? It was exactly like that. The movie is even better (and how many movies can say they're better than the show they're from?)

Hilarious with not one un-engaging second.

[–] SeaSerpent 9 years ago

It came out when I was five this was one of twenty or so movies we actually owned on vhs, I watched pretty often I loved it, but back then I also loved Beethoven the dog.

[–] g_dekok 9 years ago

Are you kidding? This movie is hysterical!!!

[–] blaque108 9 years ago

I'm 33 now and I remember watching this movie at around years old back in 91' and it was funny and good then and its funny and still good now. I watch this movie everyday if I wanted to.

[–] blondcutie1972 9 years ago

I was starting my first year of college when I saw this in the movie theater, it got a little boring at times, I liked Addams Family Values more. The Thanksgiving play scene was one of my favorite scenes.

[–] blbbg1 9 years ago

Dark Shadows was annoying unlike this film! That's a film that's not good!

[–] BillyBeefcake 9 years ago

100% disagree with OP.

I thoroughly enjoyed my recent watching of both Addams 1 & 2 over the last week.

The cast was fantastic and it had that great late 80's early 90's Tim Burton'ish feel to them.

It is too bad Raul Julia died in 1994 because we may have gotten a Addams Family III.

[–] brain_red 9 years ago

i strongly disagree too. i just recently watched this after 2 decades and i was surprised at how well it holds up. i miss this type of comedy and superb acting from anjelica and raul. cgi was used sparingly with the thing and i prefer the practical effects.

this movie and values are movies you can watch again and again.