Les Valeurs de la famille Addams

ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES is a rare gem of a sequel that surpasses its original in every way possible. The original ADDAMS FAMILY movie had a horribly thin plot and stupid one-liners...but who cared...it had stunning cinematography and and set design! Well, the sequel is less showy with its art direction and focuses more on making us laugh. The screenplay was written by Paul Rudnick, who is the Messiah of One-liners. His script has a wickedly dark sense of humor thats just irresistible. Angelica Huston and Raul Julia are more sensual than ever. Christina Ricci is superb as Wednesday; she brings the perfect sense of melancholy and dryness to her character. My favorite performace though was Joan Cusack, as the diabolical nanny Debbie. She is just a blast to watch as a gold-digging psycho killer who wants Uncle Fester's money. I loved how this movie satirizes the white upper class, which is a perfect contrast to the Addamses themselves. This is one hilarious movie.

Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty) takes a zany script written by Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey, In and Out) and directs with an exhilarating rhythm to tell the tale of Uncle Fester's marriage to a suspicious young nanny (Joan Cusack) and its effect on the Addams family.

All the actors are absolutely wonderful but Cusack steals the movie with a gleefully nasty turn as the murderous Debbie. Her without-peer comedic talent is more strongly showcased here -watch the scene when Debbie sits in a car waiting for a house to explode- than in her award winning role as Kevin Kline's jilted bride in In and Out. Angelica Huston and Raoul Julia are magnetic in dramatic roles but they also have sensational comic timing and their Morticia and Gomez make a memorable dark-humored pair, most notably in the scenes where the sexual innuendo takes a front-row seat. Peter MacNichol (Ally McBeal) and Christine Baranski (The Ref) have a ball as the irritating summer camp counslers and Christina Ricci will probably never top her performance as Wednesday.

It's a guilty pleasure and a fun ride, zipping by in an hour and a half and also features a hilarious cameo by Peter Graves (Airplane). Check it out!

This is a film with several excellent performances, but that of Christina "Wednesday" Ricci is near perfect. The reluctant smile outside the "harmony hut" is Oscar material. And Christina as Pocahantas is the very definition of "cute".

Of the others, Joan Cusack also stands out. I doubt anyone else could play the part of "the black widow" quite as well, with just the right mix of sleaze and slapstick. Her deranged laughter alone is worth half the rental fee.

It may not be a classic but it is solid entertainment, with few if any weak passages. Go and see it!

Almost everybody who was in the original "The Addams Family" returns to reprise their roles in this sequel which is actually better than the first film. The laughs come at a faster and better pace and Joan Cusack makes a delightfully sinister villain who masquerades as a nanny, marries Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), and wants to get her hands on the Addams Family riches. It's up too all of the Addams along with new arrival Baby Pubert to stop her. Thing and Cousin Itt are also along for the ride once again.

I absolutely loved the first movie. I bought this two days ago, and I was really impressed, because this is a really funny movie. it is possibly better than the first but only just. If there are any flaws, they are minor, but why is the rating for this movie so low? 6.2? It is much better than that! I can name other great movies that have fallen victim to low ratings. The humour was wonderful. Black humour suits the Addams Family perfectly. As for the acting, it was superb. Christina Ricci tops them all as Wednesday, but that doesn't mean that the others weren't good either. Raul Julia and Angelica Huston are note perfect as Gomez and Morticia. To be honest, I think that Gomez is Julia's best role. Christopher Lloyd was born to play Fester, just as entertaining as he was in Back To The Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Jimmy Workman was also really good, and the underrated actress Joan Cusack took me completely by surprise as Debbie. That baby was cute too. If there was one minor flaw, it would be that you don't see much of Cousin It and Margaret. As I'm probably not able to write a review for the first film, what I've said for this film, applies pretty much also for that too. I give this a 9/10, same with the first, but avoid the New Addams Family and unless you're a Tim Curry fan, avoid Addams Family Reunion also. 9/10. Bethany Cox