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Addams Family Values (1993) More at IMDbPro »

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92 comments in total

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32 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
No longer rehashing old material, they're even funnier this time., 18 November 1999

Author: Andy Willett from New York City

One of my favorite films. Paul Rudnick clearly had a field day writing this screenplay.

As odd as it may seem, this sequel is in many ways superior to its predecessor. The first had to spend much of its time introducing the Family--and, just as importantly, paying (totally justified) homage to Charles Addams' brilliant cartoons and to the old television series. As a result, the plot felt forced, as if it had been the best way the writers could think of to showcase all the source material. In the end, one left the theater feeling that the movie had been 'about' the old sight gags. And then there was the totally shameless product placement...but I digress.

Addams Family Values, on the other hand, gets to be more playful. Because we all know who we're dealing with by now, we don't have to spend nearly so much time introducing the family and their skewed universe. Instead, the characters get more of a chance to develop as they glide blithely through a fuller, more cohesive story.

Paul Rudnick's screenplay is masterful--you'll be quoting from it for weeks. Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston are particularly marvelous as one of the most genuinely loving, passionate couples you've seen in ages. In a weird sort of way.

That dance number! Morticia's ever-present shaft of light! Christina Ricci as the sublime Wednesday! Joan Cusack, unhinged! A split-second cameo by Charles Busch! Oh, rapture. I could go on and on, but I'm running out of superlatives. Suffice it to say that this movie is well worth your time.

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33 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny as hell!, 29 October 2001

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

Usually I don't like horror comedies and I hate mainstream movies,but "Addams Family Values" completely cracked me up.It was so immensely enjoyable and funny as hell!Especially the first Thanksgiving Day performance,where Wednesday Addams(Christina Ricci)as a Pocahontas,and other Indians took a revenge on American colonists-I almost cried with laughter during that scene!I wonder what Americans think about it?As for Christina Ricci,she simply steals the show in this one!I'm looking forward to see this talented,young actress in more movies.The other actors are also excellent,and the film is filled with wonderful touches of black humour.Highly recommended.

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25 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Ricci rules, 3 November 2001

Author: Leif Hellström from Stockholm, Sweden

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!

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21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Very funny, 11 January 2003
Author: (barbarella70@yahoo.com) from madison, wi

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!

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21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a bad sequel, 14 January 1999
Author: Robert M. Flaxman from South Orange, NJ

Considering what could have gone wrong with this movie, it's actually surprisingly good. When you think about sequels running in this vein, they often have problems. Addams Family Values does not.

The Addams Family was a funny, if not just plain strange, movie, and good for its genre. Addams Family Values does the original just as good and perhaps even one better. One very unconventional thing about Addams Family Values was that it had a higher rating (PG-13) than the Addams Family (PG), something rarely seen with a sequel. This rating was mostly due to the increased amount of violence in the movie, including the scene where the campers roast the annoying counselors over a fire and, of course, Debbie (Joan Cusack) and her homicidal ways.

A black comedy like its predecessor, Addams Family Values is an interesting movie and very funny. Look for smaller roles by perhaps bigger names than most of the regular cast: Nathan Lane as a police officer, David Hyde Pierce as a doctor, Tony Shalhoub as a drunken sailor, and Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski as the Grangers.

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16 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Better than the original ? I think so., 6 May 1999

Author: Neil Ferris (n.ferris@uea.ac.uk) from Norwich, England

This film is one of those rare gems, a sequel that is as good as, or even better than the original.

Christina Ricci fulfills all the promise that she showed in the first film, as she really steals the film from her more established co-stars.

The scenes at camp produce some of the best one-liners, and it is great to see an American film that is self-mocking about its image concious rich societies. Lines from Ricci like " Is that your overbite?" and "When they woke up all their old noses had grown back!" are superb and will be much loved in the UK, as it is how much of the States is perceived over here.

Also, Amanda in this movie, is also played by the same girl who played the Girl Scout in the first movie.

Add a little bit of romance between Wednesday and another kid at the camp and you have something for everyone in this wonderfully funny and worryingly endearing movie.

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18 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Snap, snap continued, 9 January 2000
Author: Op_Prime from Ardmore, PA

It's a pleasant surprise to see sequel live up to the original. All the actors are great, particularly Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd. Oh, can not forget Anjelica Huston. Sequels rarely live up to their predecessor and that's what makes this movie so special. Filled with humor, Values is highly recommended for all.

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14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
A sequel that lives up to the original!, 13 May 2001

Author: Laffz00 from 10essee

"Addams Family Values" is *finally* a sequel that lives up to the original. I thought this film was just as good as the first film if not better. I am so glad that the original cast decided to come back for the sequel (the only original cast member that didn't was "Grandmama," but she had the smallest role out of the whole family so it didn't matter too much). Yet again Raul Julia and Christina Ricci turn in great performances as Gomez and Wednesday Addams, respectively, and Joan Cusack gives a great performance also as the homicidal Debbie Jillinsky who marries men for their money and then kills them on their wedding night, but after marrying Fester she just can't seem to get rid of him. The whole part of the script that dealt with Wednesday and Pugsley at summer camp was hilarious. And I thought Mercedes McNab as Amanda, who had a cameo as the girl scout in the first film, was hilarious and good in her role. The only thing I found sort of annoying about this movie was that it centered on Uncle Fester again. But, overall this is a great sarcastic comedy that lives up to it's predecessor.

My Verdict: 7/10

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11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
An improvement on the original film, 19 October 2002
Author: soranno from Las Vegas, Nevada

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.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Darkly funny and enjoyable sequel albeit lacking anything that new (if that's a bad thing), 16 July 2005
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

The Addams family just got a little stranger with the addition of a new baby boy. However with the new arrival, Wednesday and Pugsley become isolated and try to kill little Pubert. With all this squabbling, Morticia sounds gets tired and seeks help from a nanny. After many failures, they settle on the sparky Debbie – although Wednesday has her suspicions. These suspicions seem to be justified whenever Debbie convinces Morticia and Gomez to send their children away to a summer camp and then marry Uncle Fester – a man so repulsive that love cannot be the reason.

Many films wheel out sequels by simply adding something to the original film; often it is a child and often it doesn't work. However with this film the child is not the focus but a plot device for bringing in a nanny who in turn splits the plot. The result is a solid plot that basically retreads the mood and humour of the original film which, for fans, is not a bad thing at all. For me I enjoy the dark world of the modern Addams family and felt that the plot did enough to be more than just the frame for it. The silly dark humour works well and it produced many laughs while also achieving a consistent humorous tone. I can understand why some people don't like it because it is the sort of thing you really need to "get" and I "got" it; also slightly more uptight parents may not like the examples set their kids in the film (but f**k 'em if they can't take a joke).

The cast are a major factor in the humour working. Although Fester is the focus of the film, Julia is still a real joy and his chemistry with Huston is really enjoyable and they make their lines work well. Lloyd is a perfect Fester and he is consistently funny. Cusack makes the most of her role and she fits in well with the tone of the film. Ricci yet again steals the film and her deadpan delivery is funny across the whole film. The support cast have lots of cameos and smaller roles and it is fun without being distracting to watch the faces including Kane, MacNicol, Pierce, Shalhoub, Lane and Sonnenfeld himself.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first film then you'll like this, and vice versa. Personally I enjoy the darkly comic tone and consistent laughs that it produced, while the good performances across the board raise the material and provide some real joys in Julia and Ricci.

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