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Sandra Olmsted’s Cinematic Skinny: “Ooky” Can Only Mean . . .
The Addams Family!
Exceptional Halloween Fun!
by Sandra Olmsted
Co-directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan infuse their addition to The Addams Family franchise with dark, morbid humor, similar to the original cartoons and Charles Addams’ characteristic wit and urbanity. They also use music in remarkably funny and surprising ways to create silly and charming dichotomies. The sophisticated laughs pile up on the humor aimed at the kids although the kiddy humor is still more evolved than the potty humor so often used in animated films to make them appealing to kids. While most family films throw a few bones of humor to adults forced to accompany kids to the movies, The Addams Family feels more like it is aimed at delighting adults.
The story pits Margaux Needler (voice of Allison Janney) of Home And Garden TV aka HAG-TV against the Addams. Her show has built a perfect, pastel town, called Assimilation, evocative of the one in Edward Scissorhands. Margaux will lose her TV show if she can’t sell the last 50 houses in the Pleasantville-esque town, where kids sing “Why be an individual when you can be like everyone else?” Once the fog clears, and Margaux gets a look at the Addams’ dilapidated house on the hill overlooking her beautiful town, she resorts to every dirty trick she knows and uses all the gismos she installed to watch Assimilation’s inhabitants.
Meanwhile, Wednesday (voice of Chloe Grace Moretz), who is about 14, feels rebellious and wants to explore the world beyond the gates of the family home, and Pugsley (voice of Finn Wolfhard), who’s a bit younger, tries to prepare for the traditional Mazurka, the male Addams’ rite of passage consisting of a knife dance. Despite being trained and encourages by his father, Gomez (voice of Oscar Isaac), and Uncle Fester (voice of Nick Kroll), Pugsley isn’t good at the dance. Wednesday, who’s bored, feels disconnected, which causes her mother, Morticia (voice of Charlize Theron) great concern. Of course, the ever-helpful Thing and Lurch (both voiced by Conrad Vernon), who lurks and plays some very strange and humorous choices on the pipe organ, are part of the family.
Then, Margaux invites the Addams to visit Assimilation, and Wednesday discovers that middle school exists and wants to attend the “prison for children” as she calls it. At school, She discovers new ways to rebel and confronts her mother over the way they live and what they believe. She also befriends Margeaux’s daughter, Parker (voice of Elsie Fisher), who is also ready to rebel against her upbringing. As the extended Addams family gathers to celebrate Pugsley becoming a full-fledged Addams, Margaux is rallying the locals to drive the Addams away.
The dialogue is great, and much of the dry wit is in it, so listening is extremely important. Like the best kid movies, the film also has a positive message, and in The Addams Family, it is about being oneself and loving who you are. The animation and the look of the characters takes a little getting used to because the characters are unusual in appearance and not just for the usual Addams family reasons of “ooky and kooky.” The cast is as terrific, and the casting inspired, especially Snoop Dogg as Cousin It. The Addams Family, a United Artist release, is rated PG for macabre and suggestive humor and some action, and the film runs a speedy and perfect 87 minutes. The Addams Family is theater now as a perfect Halloween treat.
