Review of The Addams Family (1991) by Lee D — 09 Aug 2014

I rated this quite some time ago but never got around to reviewing it and I had some spare time, so, what the heck. although it came out in the 90's, the Addams family films still hold up today and in my opinion are a couple of the most underrated films of all time.

Both Addams family and Addams family values show a great attention to the things that make this character set so memorable. there's something about these characters (as lovingly twisted as they may be) that just draws you in and makes you fall in love with them.

I don't know if it's the bizarre, naive nature of each character or just the ridiculousness of them. they're just too fun to watch. the movies bring even more to that with a inspired and perfect cast.

Angelica Huston is spot on as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd is, oddly enough, perfectly well tailored as Uncle Fester (who knew) and Christina Ricci along with Jimmy Workman are incredible as Wednesday and Pugsley.

The shining star in this film for me, however, is the late Raul Julia. I love watching this performance and never get tired of it. he just has this energy about him as Gomez Addams that's a treat to watch.

you can tell he is having a blast with this role and he steals every scene and this for me just makes both films a joy to watch. the stories of these films aren't exactly the most 3 dimensional you'll see but frankly I don't think they need to be (and besides they're still very entertaining).

the movie plays out like a high budget episode of the TV show but at a much grander scale and with a much more befitting cast ( I only watched a little but of the original series, and to be honest it just didn't have the same effect on me as the movies).

the visual style along with the cinematography and direction of Barry Sonnenfield round everything out perfectly. all in all these are two movies that I have always loved and I think they're worth multiple viewings.