My Review of The Addams Family (1991)

 

Written by Caroline Thompson & Larry Wilson

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Gomez: "Think of it, Thing. For 25 years we've attempted to contact Fester in the great beyond, and for 25 years, nothing. I'm beginning to think my brother truly is lost."

I have to admit that my memory of this movie isn't as great as my memory of the second movie and catching up with both movies over the weekend, I'll admit that my preference tends to lean more towards the second than the first. Still though, this is a good first look into America's most lovable kooky family.

The Addams - comprising of romantic lothario Gomez (Raul Julia), his Gothic looking wife, Morticia (Anjelica Huston), their children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), Grandmama (Judith Malina), butler Lurch (Carel Struycken) and of course, estranged Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) who went missing 25 years ago, only to come back for this movie. Or did he?

That's where I get a bit confused with this one. It's implied that "Fester" is actually a man named Gordon who along with his scheming mother, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson) and family lawyer, Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya) find themselves plotting against the Addams Family in a bid to seize their fortune with a rather predictable turn of events.

As the movie progresses we see Gordon going from wanting to fleece our kooky protagonists to fully embracing the family to the point where the movie seems to skip over the idea of him being a conman to actually being Fester when a convenient bout of lightning restores his memories and the previous status quo with the Addams asserts itself. 

As a villain, I have to admit that I find Abigail somewhat lacking although she does for the most part have something of a restrictive hold on Fester and works to divide him from his family but the very dynamic while explored in the sequel with Debbie is somewhat better handled there than here.

The rest of the film plays out well with it's quirkiness as Wednesday and Pugsley along with Morticia find themselves adapting easier to life outside the manor than Gomez (another thing that the sequel tackles in a way) before the family are banded together to get their home and Fester back. 

- I notice that Mercedes McNab appears in this movie as an obnoxious girl scout. I genuinely didn't remember she was in the first movie as her role in the sequel is more memorable.

- Tully's wife, Margaret spends the movie being antagonistic towards the Addams before eventually getting romantically involved with Itt,

- This movie was not only Barry Sonnenfield's directorial debut but he also had a brief cameo in it as well.

- Standout music: Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd's take on Mamushka.

The Addams Family isn't quite as strong as the more iconic sequel that it would spawn two years later but it laid the groundwork well enough for this family getting their first cinematic outing. The sequel is far better but this still has it's moments.

Rating: 7 out of 10