The Addams Family (film)
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| The Addams Family | |
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 The Addams Family promotional movie poster |
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| Directed by | Barry Sonnenfeld |
| Produced by | Scott Rudin |
| Written by | Charles Addams(characters) Caroline Thompson Larry Wilson |
| Starring | Anjelica Huston Raúl Juliá Christopher Lloyd Elizabeth Wilson Christina Ricci Judith Malina Carel Struycken Jimmy Workman |
| Music by | Marc Shaiman |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman |
| Editing by | Dede Allen Jim Miller |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (USA) Orion Pictures (non-USA via Columbia Pictures) |
| Release date(s) | November 22, 1991 |
| Running time | 99 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Addams Family Values |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Addams Family is a black comedy 1991 film based on the characters, from the cartoon of the same name, created by cartoonist Charles Addams, featuring songs and a video from rap artist MC Hammer (ie. "Addams Groove").
The movie was originally developed by Orion Pictures (which at the time owned the rights to the television series on which the movie was based). However, due to the studio's financial problems, Paramount began co-producing the film and ended up releasing the movie in the U.S., with Orion retaining the international rights.
The Addamses are a family of wealthy and eccentric individuals who live together in a Second Empire mansion and share a common interest in the bizarre and the macabre. The characters first appeared in cartoons in The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s, and later gained popularity in the defunct TV series, The Addams Family. The film centers on the day to day life of the family, and the return of Gomez Addams's long-lost brother Fester, played by Christopher Lloyd. The film also stars Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, and Christina Ricci.
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[edit] Plot
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
The story begins as Gomez (Raúl Juliá) laments to his lawyer, Tully Alford, that he has not spoken to his brother Fester since they had a falling out 25 years earlier. Morticia invites the Alfords to a séance in which they would attempt to contact Uncle Fester's spirit.
Tully returns to work to find his loan shark, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson), and her son Gordon (Christopher Lloyd) have come to collect what he owes them. Gordon harasses Tully until he discovers the gold doubloons with which Gomez has paid the lawyer's bills. Tully notices just how similar Gordon looks to Fester, and proposes that Gordon pose as Fester to infiltrate the Addams' house to find the vault where they keep their vast riches.
At the séance, the Addamses attempt to contact Fester's spirit, demanding he knock three times. As they ask, they hear a knock at the door. They answer it to find Gordon, posing as Fester, with Ms. Craven, posing as a psychiatrist named Dr. Greta Pinder-Schloss. Gomez is initially overjoyed but becomes more and more suspicious as "Fester" fails to remember important events from their childhood.
Gordon and Ms. Craven attempt to break into the Addams family vault, but they fail, as the vault is protected by several complicated safeguards: a hidden door unlocked only by removing the correct book from the bookshelf, an entry chute hidden among several similar chutes (most of which drop the user outside the building) and so on.
Despite Gomez's doubts, the brothers reconcile and throw a party for the extensive (and very peculiar) Addams clan. When Wednesday is sent to check on Fester, she finds Gordon in the bathroom, with his mother shaving his head. The two of them are talking about their plans for the evening. Wednesday realizes that he is an impostor and escapes to the family graveyard chased by Gordon.
Tully Alford has discovered that Fester, being the older brother, would inherit the entire Addams fortune, and enlists the aid of Gomez' neighbor, a judge whose windows are constantly being broken by Gomez hitting golf balls from his roof. As the party winds down, the family discovers that Wednesday is missing and search for her, but return to the house to find Tully behind the locked gate, holding a restraining order, demanding they stay at least a thousand yards from the property. Gomez takes the issue to court, but the judge presiding over the case – the same one contacted by Tulley – rules in favor of Gordon.
While Gordon, his mother, and Tully Alford try to reach the vault, the Addamses try to adapt to their new situation but are ill suited to live in the outside world. Morticia returns to the mansion to confront Gordon but is captured by Tully and Craven, who torture her to get her to reveal how to reach the vault. Thing sees all this and returns to the motel, where he informs Gomez that his beloved wife is in trouble. Gomez rushes to her rescue, whereupon Craven offers an ultimatum: she demands that he take them to the vault or she will kill Morticia.
Gordon, who has become sympathetic to the Addams family, takes matters into his own hands. The bookshelf concealing the passageway to the vault contains books which, when opened, project their contents into reality. Gordon threatens Tully and his mother with a book named "Hurricane Irene" while Gomez and Morticia escape. Tully and Craven are launched out a window into open graves, and Gordon is struck by lightning emitted by the book, which restores his memory: apparently, he was Fester but had lost his memory in the Bermuda Triangle.
Seven months later, all is well with the family as they are throwing a Halloween party. Gordon, it turns out, really was Fester all along. As Fester and the children rush out to the graveyard for a rousing game of "Wake the Dead," Gomez ponders what could possibly make life better. Morticia reveals that she is pregnant (a plot which sets the stage for the sequel Addams Family Values). The movie ends with their kiss.
[edit] Differences from the Television Series
The film was much closer to the description Charles Addams made for the show, and followed his instructions closely.
The film differs from the television series in several ways. The most significant change is that Fester is an Addams, Gomez's brother; in the series, he was the brother of Morticia's mother Hester. Also, in the series, Grandmama was Gomez's mother Eudora; the film notes that Gomez's parents were murdered by an angry mob, and subsequently implies that Grandmama is in fact Morticia's mother (Charles Addams originally said that the character indeed was Morticia's mother), with Morticia frequently referring to Grandmama as 'Mama'. Both reflected changes to the family relations first made in the 1973-1975 animated series. Cousin Itt's voice is of a decidedly higher pitch in the film, and his hair is completely straight, lacking the curls he featured in the original series.
The famous original opening theme from the television series is also missing, replaced with a shortened instrumental version over the film's title card.
In the original television show, Gomez Addams does not appear to have any supernatural powers, behaving like a normal (albeit eccentric) wealthy gentleman. However, in the film version Gomez Addams is capable of many feats, including moving at high speed and sword fighting with inhuman poise and alacrity. The Addams Family Mansion has also been redesigned and coincides more with the house seen in the cartoon where the family dumps boiling oil on some carolers.
[edit] Songs
MC Hammer songs were featured in the movie such as "Addams Groove" and "2 Legit 2 Quit", among others.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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