3.5 stars. Rated PG, for macabre and suggestive humor
By Derrick Bang
This new Addams Family film definitely catches the vibe that cartoonist Charles Addams established so well, during a run that lasted from 1938 to his death in ’88.
Then again … not entirely.
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| Newly arrived in the postcard-perfect community that has been built in the lowland beneath their dilapidated hilltop mansion, the Addams Family — from left, Morticia, Wednesday, Gomez, Pugsley and Uncle Fester — prepare to greet their neighbors in their own inimitable fashion. |
These animated Addamses certainlylookright; directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon have faithfully followed the character template established within so many magazine covers and single-panel New Yorker cartoons. The resulting film moves along at a brisk, gag-laden clip; Tiernan, Vernon and editors Kevin Pavlovic and David Ian Salter pack their 87-minute romp with plenty of entertainment. I’ve no doubt today’s audiences will find it gleeful good fun.
And yet … scripters Matt Lieberman, Pamela Pettler and Erica Rivinoja have made a major change that would have prompted a frown from dear ol’ Charles, were he still with us. His cartoons always derived their humor from what dire deed was about to take place, generally executed by the gleefully macabre children, Wednesday and Pugsley; our imaginations filled in what would happen in the next few seconds, thereby making us collaborators in the punch line.
This film, in great contrast, too frequently completes the gag: often at the expense of poor Uncle Fester. Wednesday’s casually aimed arrows repeatedly penetrate his flesh, in a manner more reminiscent of Kenny’s recurring deaths, in television’s South Park. Many would excuse this as the dictates of modern humor, but I lament the absence of subtlety … particularly because subtlety — even if gruesome — was Charles Addams’ forté.
But times change, and it’s not really fair to judge this film by standards dated by more than half a century. Particularly because Lieberman, Pettler and Rivinoja have concocted a story quite decidedly Addams-esque, while taking a few cheeky digs at contemporary real-world behavior.
It’s impossible to make too much fun of the narcissistic social media generation. On top of which, this film takes some perceptive shots at the gullibility of small-minded adults too easily swayed by libelous tweets and emails (a message likely overlooked by guilty parties who’d never, for a moment, think they behaved like that).
A brief prologue follows the nuptials that unite Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) in unholy matrimony, after which they and all their bizarre friends and relations are driven away by angry/terrified “normal” townsfolk. Gomez and Morticia wind up at a mansion-esque, long-deserted asylum that comes with a vengeful resident ghost and hulking, shambling lunatic; the latter becomes their butler, Lurch (Vernon), when they turn this “perfect” estate into a happy home.
Thirteen years pass, during which time Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard) have joined the family: little darlings who delight in trying to kill each other. (Seriously.) A surrounding swamp has ensured their privacy all this time, but that shifts in a heartbeat; the moldy fog drifts away for the last time, leaving them exposed on a hilltop, above a picture-perfect, Technicolor-pop, theme park community dubbed Assimilation.
Where gaily dressed children, in identical clothing, charm the residents by chanting “What’s so great about being individual?”
This townlet is the brainchild of flamboyantly blond design TV maven Margaux Needler (Allison Janney), who never met a structure she couldn’t “improve” by turning it into another pink- and orange-hued plastic nightmare. But her nightmare is the decaying mansion now visible on the hill: a stark impediment to her pending sale of all the homes in this sparkling-clean neighborhood, which will lead to TV fame forever.
The subsequent A-story is a droll saga of acceptance, because the Addams are just as repulsed by this cotton-candy perfection, as Assimilation’s residents are horrified by these … well … creatures.
Sidebar sagas include Wednesday’s budding friendship with Parker (Elsie Fisher), butt of the mean-girl clique at the local middle school, who also happens to be Margaux’s daughter. Partly as a means of rebellion against Morticia’s sheltering protection — and partly because Wednesday claims sole right to the title of local torturer, thank you very much — the girl decides to attend classes.
After the first day, to Morticia’s horror, Wednesday returns home in an almost unrecognizable state … thanks to the addition of a pink barrette.
Pugsley, meanwhile, is being not-too-successfully coached by his father for the Addams clan’s equivalent of a bar mitzvah: in this case an elaborate “Sabre Mazurka,” which will prove that he’s ready to become a man. Alas, the poor lad can’t handle a sword to save his life; he’s far more adept with slingshots and grenades.
All these combustible elements intersect when the greater Addams clan begins to assemble, granting us some choice encounters with Grandma (Bette Midler), Great Auntie Sloom (Jenifer Lewis) and Cousin It (Snoop Dogg); they’re joined by many other unnamed cousins, aunts and uncles … some with a few more limbs than usual.
The endless sight gags are amusing and laugh-out-loud hilarious in their own right; everything becomes even funnier, thanks to the voice actors. Isaac’s flustered Hispanic gesticulations contrast perfectly with Theron’s 1940s Mid-Atlantic sophistication; Wolfhard’s rambunctious, bratty-little-boy enthusiasm is counterpointed by Moretz’s straight, subdued pronouncements. She makes the most calamitous remarks, and promises the most horrific revenge schemes, without every cracking a smile. Which will have you on the floor.
Janney, in turn, is the pluperfect calculating bitch: an adult bully who isn’t about to let one lone family — no matter how weird — stand in the way of her corporate dreams. At the same time, Margaux’s characterization and appearance are a perfect send-up of the insufferably cheerful drones who host real-world home improvement shows.
Then there’s the unusually unidextrous Thing, always good for a chuckle: particularly when it interacts with Lurch. The latter also gets excellent mileage from his uncannily diverse talents on the family organ, which occasionally dips into harpsichord echoes of Vic Mizzy’s iconic theme for the 1964-66 TV series.
I’m further delighted to report that this film eventually honors that tune in its full glory, in a manner even better than fans could have hoped for. Top marks for that.
All told, then, The Addams Family is a hoot … even if its modern affectations aren’t quite what Charles likely had in mind.
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