Director Report Card: Barry Sonnenfeld (1993) - Part 2

3. Addams Family Values

Movie studios were not quite as franchise crazy in the early nineties as they are now. However, the whole point of making a movie like “The Addams Family,” an adaptation of an old TV show, was to capitalize on a known intellectual property. This was the same thought process behind every movie-to-television project of the time. So when Barry Sonnenfeld's “Addams Family” grossed over 100 million worldwide, a sequel was immediately given the greenlight. Obviously not wanting to mess with the formula too much, Sonnenfeld and his cast returned. Only two years later, “Addams Family Values” was playing in theaters all over the globe. While the sequel failed to match the box office success of the original, it has acquired a considerable cult following in the decades since.

As announced in the final minutes of the first film, Morticia is pregnant with her and Gomez' third child. After being rushed to the hospital, she delivers little Pubert. Wednesday and Pugsley are immediately jealous, attempting to murder the baby repeatedly. Annoyed by this, Gomez and Morticia seek a nanny. They soon find Debbie, who is seemingly not bothered by the family's macabre ways. Fester, who is increasingly lonely, is smitten with Debbie. Unbeknownst to the others, Debbie is the infamous Black Widow killer, who marries rich men just to off them. And Fester Addams is her latest target.

The first “Addams Family” movie suffered a little bit – but not too much – from the episodic nature of the TV show and comic strips it was adapting. “Addams Family Values” essentially has the same structure as the first film but finds a clever solution to smoother pacing. The two various plots of the movie are nicely tied together. The presence of the new baby brings Debbie into the story, who just happens to be the antagonist for the rest of the film and drives the plot in the last third. When the Debbie storyline and little Pubert B-plot threaten to break apart, another connecting fiber is introduced: Debbie's presence puts a curse on Pubert, making him into a precious little angel to his parents’ horror. It's not A-plus screenwriting or anything but it proves that someone learned from the flaws of the first go-around.

Paul Rudnick's screenplay also finds another angle to keeping the comedic formula fresh too. “The Addams Family's” angle – of the Addams responding with delight to “bad” things and being horrified by “normal” things – was delightful. Yet the joke probably would've strained under a second tour. The introduction of Debbie changes things. She's a seemingly normal person who has no problem with the Addams' life style. She smiles and chuckles with every new macabre sight. Not even Thing puts her off that much. It's all a con job for her but it manages to keep things fresh, nicely subverting expectations again.

Further adding to its comedic potential is one simple fact: “Addams Family Values” is also maybe the sickest comedy ever sold as a family film. They play this on ABC Family every October after all. This is a movie where the most frequently reoccurring gag is attempted infanticide, performed by other children no less. Baby Pubert is almost decapitated, dropped out a window, and crushed. There are throwaway jokes about incest, suicide, a woman being cooked alive, sadomasochism, and child molestation. Honestly, it's sort of amazing that something this genuinely dark came out of a major studio at the time. (Then again, this was the same year as “Batman Returns,” so I suppose big budget, goth-tinged sequels were getting away with a lot at the time.)

Enlivening the material even more is another dose of energetic visuals from director Sonnenfeld. His love of the moving camera is evident in numerous scenes. Thing rides a roller skate around like a skateboard, surfing through the hallways of the house. His camera assumes the P.O.V. of darts that Gomez throw at a board, handled by Lurch. As much as "Addams Family Values" is characterized by movement, Sonnenfeld also knows when to let an image linger. A shot of Pubert crawling towards the mansion's staircase or of the kids playing with a lightning rod in the rain are wonderfully framed. It's subtle sometimes too, such as in the hilarious decision to always light Angelica Houston's eyes, in a way reminiscent of Bela Lugosi as Dracula. And, of course, the production values are as gorgeous as before. (Such that the set dressing was nominated for an Oscar.)

As much as Sonnenfeld's energetic visual design is a highlight of "Addams Family Values," perhaps he pushes it too far at times. There are only two sequences in the sequel that are largely laughless. The first concerns a manic car ride, with Thing behind the wheel and Fester in the passenger seat. A smashed meatloaf on the side of the road is a reoccurring visual. The second is the long sequence of Rube Goldberg-like events at the end that result in little Pubert saving the day. It gets a little too cartoonish at times, the baby springing into the air. It's the only time this otherwise charming sequel feels like it's trying too hard.

But none of that is what "Addams Family Values" really owes its cult following to. The subplot where Debbie ships the kids off to summer camp is undoubtedly the fan favorite. Deadpan, sardonic Wednesday throwing dark quibs at the smiling, preppy kids around her has made the character even more beloved than before. Christina Ricci, somewhat stiff in the first movie, develops into a perfect performer. (Most evident in the hysterical smiling scene.) Yet the satire goes a little deeper than that. Nearly everyone else at camp is blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. Wednesday, Pugsley, and anyone else who refuses to conform to the strict societal rules for attractiveness are excluded, often to a small cabin in the woods. When a ridiculously self-indulgent Thanksgiving patent is performed, all the non-W.A.S.P.-y campers are forced into the roles of Native Americans. When Wednesday leads a bloody revolt, it's not just a hilarious rebuking of America's whitewashing of its own racist, bloody history. It's a rejection of the mindsets and society that created that whitewashing in the first place.

It's dark and subversive and very funny. Yet let's not give the movie too much credit. "Goths disrupt polite society" was a mini-genre at the time, encapsulating the entirety of Tim Burton's early career. There was always a degree of self-indulgent wish fulfillment in stories like this, of smarmy outsiders deflating their square oppressors. This is most evident in the character of Joel Glicker, the boy that develops a precocious romance with Wednesday at camp. One suspects that director Sonnenfeld saw a bit of himself in the dark-haired, neurotic, very Jewish young boy. A director giving his quasi-self-insert character a cool, goth girlfriend can't help but invite a certain amount of side-eye. But it's really cute too, as David Krumholtz and Ricci have a likably quirky chemistry. Like everything else, the movie subverts this summer romance with the darkly humorous ending, which is a nice example of the movie calling itself on its own bullshit a little bit. 

As with the first film, more than anything else, it's the cast that really makes "Addams Family Values" so much damn fun. The absolute joy Raul Julia brings to every one of his scenes is infectious. He's having so much in so many scenes. This becomes even more bittersweet once you realize he was already ill at the time of filming, dying less than a year after the movie came out. If Julia is a constant ball of enthusiasm, Angelica Huston is cool, quiet, and sensual as Morticia. This is most evident during the opening scene, where she remains calm and collected even during labor. The uncontrollable passion they feel for one another is best depicted in an impromptu dance sequence, another scene that might've been too cartoonish if the sheer joy of the actors wasn't so apparent.

Despite being tighter paced than the original, "Addams Family Values" even manages to find more stuff for its supporting cast to do. Carel Struycken's wonderful talent as a comedic straightman is well utilized, in several gags that puts the voiceless Lurch at the center. Carol Kane steps into the role of Grandmama, despite actually being a year younger than Morticia. No matter, because Kane's eccentric delivery manages to make small lines - such as simply repeating Debbie's objections back to her at the end - into big laughers. Mostly, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester shines throughout the film. Lloyd's ability to combine child-like innocence, eccentric perversity, and a blushing comedic power makes him a highlight of the cast. (Even if he's playing the character very differently than he did in the first film.)

One definite way "Addams Family Values" is superior to the original is the antagonist department. Joan Cusack plays Debbie as a totally calculated human being who does everything as a ploy to get what she wants. While the Addams are never anything less than genuine, always defiantly their true selves, Debbie is continuously disguising her true intentions. When the mask comes off, after successfully marrying Fester, she reveals herself as a profoundly petty, greedy person only interested in the shallowest of things. Which also contrasts against the Addams' devotion to each other. In other words, she's a perfect foil. Joan Cusack attacks the role with a manic glee that is truly admirable. 

“Addams Family Values” was far better received than its predecessor, even managing to win some positive reviews from critics who were dismissive of the first film. Despite that, it wasn't as successful at the box office, merely managing to break even. Perhaps the humor in both films were too dark for mainstream audiences. Cable and video is where “Addams Family Values” would truly find an audience and it's a certified cult classic now. Look no further than the hundreds of GIF sets inspired by the movie. Many declare it the superior of the two flicks. I'm a little fonder of the original, perhaps entirely because of nostalgia, but there's no denying how fresh and funny and wholly entertaining “Addams Family Values” remains. [Grade: B+]