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Writer's pictureMr. Pat

Addams Family Values

For my job I wake up at 5:45 in the AM most mornings. Tell that to me just a year ago and I would have laughed. It's not easy, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. It has made getting movies in a little trickier, but it also means I've been able to watch more films with my family, like...

Addams Family Values (1993)


I can't say this enough, but these two movies are just perfect casting. You have the Addams', of course, but even the secondary characters, antagonists and secondary antagonists are all so good! Whoever was in charge of casting for these movies hit it out of the park both times.

OK, some time after the events of the first movie, the Addams' have a baby! Not only that, they hire a nanny with a sinister side. She eventually seduces Uncle Fester and gets him to marry her. You see, we learn she's the "Black Widow." She marries rich, lonely men, then quickly kills them to get their money. When murdering Fester proves to be more difficult than she imagined, she drives a wedge in between the family, getting the kids sent off to camp, Fester abandoning them and because of that, their son, Pubert, becomes normal. The rest of the family is tasked with trying to put the pieces back together.

That's the plot in a nutshell. It was a bit of a risky move, but I think the movie is better because it split them up. It's fun when the characters interact with each other, but it's even better when they're bouncing off of "normal people." The highlight of the movie is when Pugsley and Wednesday go off to camp. Seeing the dark, gloom of the Addams' mixed with the bright and cheerfulness of the camp and its inhabitants is so much fun. Needless to say, Christina Ricci is once again hilarious as Wednesday. Every time she's on screen she shines. They have to invent ways to get Pugley in the movie because he seems so small in the massive shadow she casts. Her rivalry with the rich snob is so much fun. They manage to give her just enough screen time so you want more, but not enough where it's overkill. When I was younger, I thought it was funny, but now that I'm older and I understand more of what she's saying, it's hilarious. I'm reading through the quotes section of its IMDB page, and there are so many wonderful one liners and they're all set up perfectly.

The main plot involves Fester's love interest, Debby. She's played by Joan Cusack and she's a joy as well. Seeing her get slowly more unhinged as the movie goes on to where she becomes a snarling comic book villain is hilarious. Her facial reactions, her monologues and how she doesn't try even try to make her latest murder attempts look like accidents are a blast to watch. What's kinda sad about the whole thing, if she liked Fester even a little, the Addams' are probably the only people on Earth that would have accepted her murderous ways and she'd have access to their fortune anyways. Even when she had every single one of them strapped to an electric chair, none of them seemed disgusted with her. Morticia said it best... "You have gone too far. You have married Fester, you have destroyed his spirit, you have taken him from us. All that I could forgive. But, Debbie..."

"What?"

"...pastels?"

Finally there is Gomez, Morticia and Grandmama dealing with the breaking of the family unit. Before I get into that, Raul Julia is incredible in the role. I know in the original cartoon Gomez was more short and stocky, but to me, Julia's version will always be Gomez. There's just something so charming about the guy even when he's losing his mind at a police station. You can't help but be drawn in when he's speaking. Anyways, out of the three storylines in this movie, I think this is the weakest one. It's not bad by any stretch, but the other plot threads are just that good. This movie is well worth revisiting!


8 Dr. Chainsaws!

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