Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 11/22/1991(USA)
Release Date: 02/22/2000
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: 5.1
Run Time: 99 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Humor
Distributor/Studio: Paramount
Inspired more by the 1960s TV series than by the original Charles Addams
New Yorker cartoons,
The Addams Family proved to be one of the more successful of the TV shows-turned-movies of the 1990s. The film opens on a recreation of the magazine cartoon wherein the ghoulish Addamses prepare to pour hot oil upon a group of merry Christmas carolers. After a series of vignettes which establish the characters of
Gomez (
Raul Julia),
Morticia (
Anjelica Huston),
Wednesday (
Christina Ricci),
Pugsley (
Jimmy Workman) and family servants
Lurch (
Carel Struycken) and
Thing (
Christopher Hart), the plot proper gets under way. A stranger, played by
Christopher Lloyd, shows up on the Addams doorstep, claiming to be long-lost
Uncle Fester. It appears, however, that
Lloyd is a ringer, in cahoots with attorney Tully Alford (
Dan Hedaya) to strip the Addamses of their fortune. In their usual against-the-grain fashion, the Addams Family seems to delight in the possibility that they're being hoodwinked-indeed, not even kidnapping or death threats dampen the Addams clan's joy of living (or should we say dying?).
The Addams Family served as the directorial debut of cinematographer
Barry Sonnenfeld.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
