Saturday pizza and bad movie night turned up this gem. We’re saving Svengoolie for tomorrow night, fortified with a little red wine. Or vodka.
Plot:
Ghoulish, macabre Gomez and Morticia Addams (Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron ) get run out of town by locals with torches on their wedding night. Gomez promises to find a home for his beloved “where no one in their right mind will be caught dead in.” Their Bentley-looking car (driven by Thing, a hand with no body attached) strikes a talk, untalkative man (Conrad Vernon). His shirt notes that he’s from an asylum for the criminally insane. Whaddya know. The Addamses have a new butler. What’s even better, they have a new home—the abandoned asylum at the top of the hill, shrouded in mists that arise from a surrounding swamp!
Thirteen years later, Gomez and Morticia have been blessed with two children, Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard) and Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz). The day of Pugsley’s mazurka is fast approaching when he must prove his ability to handle a scimitar in a series of bizarre and intricate dance moves (presumably to mazurka music) before gathered family members. Pugsley is more interested in explosives, both bombs and rockets, which rides around the grounds.
Wednesday ties her braids in nooses and wonders what the world looks like before the mist. One day, she hears something odd from the other side of the gate: a bicycle bell. She bangs on the gate. The girl on the bike takes off.
Assimilation, the perfect town designed by reality home makeover star Margaux Needler (Allison Janney), has just gone up before the hill where the Addams live. In her promotional work, Needler has a group of children in the park sing, “”What’s so great about being yourself when you can be like everyone else? It’s easy to be happy if you have no choice.”
To improve the area, Needler wants the swamp drained. The townspeople get their first good look at the house on the hill. Needler insists on giving the Addams a makeover, whether they want one or not.
In the meantime, she neglects her daughter, Parker.
Thoughts:
There are some cute moments in the animated movie. To shock her parents, Wednesday comes home in a pink dress. She also comes home with a red balloon at one point. (“There are usually murderous clowns attached to these,” Morticia ponders)
Wednesday digs a pit then promises to help Pugsley with his mazurka. It’s not hard to predict what happens next. Even their mother scolds her and tells her to dig her brother up.
The message is acceptance of the individual, regardless of how odd that is. That’s nice.
The movie has some cute jokes, but it is definitely one for the kiddies.
Title: The Addams Family (2019)
Directed by
Greg Tiernan
Conrad Vernon
Writing Credits
Matt Lieberman…(screenplay by)
Matt Lieberman…(story by) and
Erica Rivinoja…(story by) and
Conrad Vernon…(story by)
Charles Addams…(based on characters created by)
Pamela Pettler…(screenplay)
Cast overview, first billed:
Oscar Isaac…Gomez Addams (voice)
Charlize Theron…Morticia Addams (voice)
Chloë Grace Moretz…Wednesday Addams (voice)
Finn Wolfhard…Pugsley Addams (voice)
Nick Kroll…Uncle Fester (voice)
Snoop Dogg…It (voice)
Bette Midler…Grandma (voice)
Allison Janney…Margaux Needler (voice)
Released: October 11, 2019
Length: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 