Gordon Craven (Christopher Lloyd), a dead ringer for The Addams' long lost Uncle Fester, poses as the missing relative in order to get his hands on the freaky family's fortune, hidden in the bowels of their spooky mansion.
I find the humour in Barry Sonnenfeld's big screen debut for The Addams Family more amusing than side-splitting, but I can't fault the casting, the lively, spot-on performances ensuring that a good time is had throughout: in particular, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester and Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams are inspired choices. Another aspect of the film that makes it more success than failure is the production design, from the wonderful interiors of the Addams' mansion, to the amazing costumes, to the top-notch special effects. Throw in a suitably ooky score by Marc Shaiman and what you have is an entertaining 99 minutes of morbid fun for all the family.
The ghoulish gags come thick and fast, there's a fun musical number (the Mamushka!), Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and Wednesday add some grand guignol to their school play, Elizabeth Wilson (as Gordon's loanshark mother Abigail) does a great comedic German accent, and Thing gets a job with FedEx!
6.5/10 for the film, plus a bonus point for being the inspiration for one of the best pinball machines of the '90s (second only to The Twilight Zone). So that's 7.5/10, rounded down to 7 for that awful Addam's rap by M. C. Hammer (such an early '90s thing).
I find the humour in Barry Sonnenfeld's big screen debut for The Addams Family more amusing than side-splitting, but I can't fault the casting, the lively, spot-on performances ensuring that a good time is had throughout: in particular, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester and Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams are inspired choices. Another aspect of the film that makes it more success than failure is the production design, from the wonderful interiors of the Addams' mansion, to the amazing costumes, to the top-notch special effects. Throw in a suitably ooky score by Marc Shaiman and what you have is an entertaining 99 minutes of morbid fun for all the family.
The ghoulish gags come thick and fast, there's a fun musical number (the Mamushka!), Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and Wednesday add some grand guignol to their school play, Elizabeth Wilson (as Gordon's loanshark mother Abigail) does a great comedic German accent, and Thing gets a job with FedEx!
6.5/10 for the film, plus a bonus point for being the inspiration for one of the best pinball machines of the '90s (second only to The Twilight Zone). So that's 7.5/10, rounded down to 7 for that awful Addam's rap by M. C. Hammer (such an early '90s thing).