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Poster (c) Paramount Pictures
It’s based on the characters by Charles Addams. The macabre family enjoys maiming, although most is talked about instead of acted. It includes Gomez (Raul Julia), who is a dashing and dapper man, Morticia (Anjelica Huston), Gomez’s morbid wife, Wednesday (Christina Ricci), a monotoned and pale daughter, and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), probably the least darkest and pudgiest of them all. Well, the “plot” includes Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson) and Gordon (Christopher Lloyd). Their employee Tully (Dan Hedaya) is an insurance guy for the Addamses. He plans to get the Addams fortune by having Gordon act like the long-lost Uncle Fester, with Craven acting like Dr. Pinder-Schloss, the person who found Fester.
Funny, well acted, and delightfully morbid, The Addams Family fires on all cylinders. It has some good special effects, and manages to please everyone who wants to be pleased by this movie. If you aren’t in the perfect dark mood, it’s hard to enjoy. But if you sit back, enjoy, and let this wild ride go, you’ll be pleased.
Before I get any further, I’d like to say that I haven’t seen the T.V. series, so I can’t base this on that. I did think that Julia (who passed away in 1994) acted terrifically. Huston, whom I always enjoy in movies, put on a good show and seemed to be enjoying herself doing this role that actually kind of makes her type-cast with me. Ricci and Lloyd are the standouts. Ricci is stone-faced and hilarious. When asked what game they were playing by Pugsley as she was strapping him into an electric chair, she replies, “Is there a God?” Lloyd was perfect, marking his number of great performances up one for me.
As fans of the series will know, the Addams have a disemboweled hand named “Thing”, who always lends a hand. Along with the sequel, the cousin Itt isn’t shown as much as it should. Itt’s a giant bundle of hair, who comes out with a surprising wife at the end of the movie. If you enjoy dark comedies, you’ll love The Addams Family.
Rated PG-13 for morbid humor and mild language.
Review Date: February 22, 2003