La Famille Addams : Les Retrouvailles

Poor old Raul Julia would be spinning in his grave like a rotisserie chicken if he could see what had become of the Addams Family series. Along with "Super Mario Bros.", this would undoubtedly be one of the most appalling major studio films ever to appear; made for video or not, there's no excuse to make movies which suck so utterly it's painful to watch them all the way through. When my former housemate borrowed this one evening I watched it like a rubbernecker gawks at a road accident. An adequate cast struggles desperately with an idiotic script playing characters made familiar by other people, far more convincingly: Nicole Fugere couldn't begin to come close to Christina Ricci's Wednesday if she lived to be a million. Only Tim Curry has any sparkle, but he could ham up the phone book and make it work. Turkey, with a capital "T"

Well, being an avid fan of the first two movies, they are amongst my favorite comedies, right on top, I waited two years before seeing this one. This third movie set the tone for the recent, and bad, television revival of the 60s series. Now was waiting to see some desastrous piece of crappy humor, some flat laughs and a big bunch of easy jokes. I did get that but not in the way I was waiting for. In fact I was surprised. Sure the postal worker part is bad enough to burn the tape, some jokes are recycled from the first two movies and not in a pretty way but it has good laughs, it is better constructed than the recent tv series and in a way it is more reminiscent of the original comic strip and 60s series than the first movies. Why ? Well for a few reasons. Before the Sonnenfeld movies, The Addams Family wasnt that dark and macabre, it was dark but not as much as the movies. In this third installment we dont have the lovable Lloyd Fester and as despicable as he can be, this new Fester is much more like the original. The beginning of this movie is painful and boring but in the second half we are more nicely treated with better performances and a good story. Because this story cant be worst than the story of the second movie, cant it ? Dont take me wrong, I love the first two movies but this one aint bad at all. Last thing, there is one element in this Addams incarnation that is better than in the first movies : Pugsley. He wasnt interesting or funny in the Sonnenfeld movies but in this one he successfully gets a few laughs from me, and believe me, thats a hard thing to do ! :)

A postman gets a bit of a surprise but manages to complete his task of delivering a parcel to the Addams family. At last, Gomez has received a copy of the Addams family history and sets about tracking down distant relatives. Making contact, they invite Grandpa and Grandma Addams to stay with them for a while and get acquainted. However minor things about their characters mark them out as being a bit different from the rest of the family and Gomez doubts their veracity and starts to try and track down more of them.

The opening credits to this film had not even finishing running and already it was clear that this was going to be a cheap and stupid film that totally fails to capture the enjoyably dark mood of the previous two remakes. In the opening scene we have a horribly mugging postman chased by cheap special effects while "wacky" music plays over the top of it all. This is a million miles from the Gothic dark humour of the two other films and it sets the standard for the rest of this shoddy laugh-free zone. The plot is pretty poor and uninspiring, providing only a very basic frame to keep things moving. Laughs are hard to come by and certainly those who enjoyed the two other films (I did) will find little to enjoy here.

The feeling of it all being a cheap knock-off is right up there on the screen. The flat cinematography and lighting cannot even compare to the darkness and atmosphere of the other two films and the direction is never better than average. The cast continue this trend. The replacement of the original actors is no surprise but it is impossible to forgive how poor they are. Curry is generally watchable but here he has just been told to impersonate Julia and his inability to make the role his own means he pales by way of comparison. Of course he looks like Brando when viewed alongside Hannah. Huston had great presence but Hannah just feels forced and in no way fits the role. Messing looks the part but Fugere can get nowhere near Ricci. Thomas is terrible as Fester and people like Begley and McCarthy should really have had something better to do with their time.

Overall a terrible film from start to finish. Well, actually, let me be fair – I don't know if it was terrible all the way to the end because I bailed out just after the halfway mark. It had all become too much for me to bare and I saw no reason to stick with it whatsoever. It looks cheap, has poor performances, a poor plot, cheap effects and generally feels shoddy – if the makers didn't bother to put the effort in then why should you?

Sadly, it is nowhere near as delightful as the previous two films, but Curry and Hannah do a fine job in their roles, too bad about the rest of the cast. The production values were not as good as the last two films, either, but it is still watchable.

Pugsley might have passed, but Wednesday was very stiff and seemed to only stare a lot. Fester resembled the cartoon version of himself, so much so that it was scary.

Curry could very well have made the role of Gomez his own if Julia had not had it first. And Hannah does a pretty good job herself, though no one can beat Houston's version.

Alice Ghostley, again sadly, did a terrible job as Grandma-ma. She just wasn't right for this part.

I can suggest this film only for those who are die-hard Curry fans, as he is absolutely delicious as Gomez. Other than that, the best I can say is that it is an unoffensive children's comedy.

The first two Addams Family films were true to the original Addams Family comics. This film bears no relation to the origional in spirit or concept. It's a pathetic attempt to cash in on an established and recognizable name. Silly slap-stick.