The Addams Family had a problem with children. The 1991 movie introduced a family of goths, ghouls and grinning monsters, and the public loved it. The sequel, Addams Family Values, solves that problem by adding a baby named Pubert. The joke is simple: the Addams kids want him dead, and the parents won’t let them.
Barry Sonnenfeld directs from a script by Paul Rudnick, and the tone is darker than the first film. This is a supernatural black comedy, not a madcap sitcom. Wednesday and Pugsley try to off Pubert, then get sent to summer camp instead. The main plot belongs to the nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, a serial killer who marries rich men for their money. She sets her sights on Uncle Fester, and the film spends half its runtime building toward the moment she tries to kill him.
Trailer, via Paramount Movies Digital.
Wednesday and Pugsley
Wednesday Addams, played by Christina Ricci, is the engine of the picture. She is suspicious of Debbie from the start, and her scenes with the nanny carry the film’s tension. Pugsley, played by Jimmy Workman, is the comic relief, though he gets less to do than Wednesday. Together they are the film’s conscience, and their failure to kill Pubert drives the story forward.
The summer camp subplot is where the film loses focus. Wednesday, Pugsley and Joel Glicker, a nerdy outcast played by David Krumholtz, are ostracized by the other campers, led by the snobbish Amanda Buckman. The camp scenes drag, and the Harmony Hut sequence, where the three are forced to watch saccharine family programming, feels like filler. The film is at its best when it is playing dark, and weakest when it leans on the broad.
Debbie Jellinsky and Uncle Fester
Joan Cusack plays Debbie with a sharp edge. She is charming, manipulative and funny in equal measure, and her scenes with Fester crackle. Cusack is the reason the serial killer plot works at all. Christopher Lloyd plays Fester as a man out of his depth, a simple soul who cannot see the danger around him. The chemistry between Cusack and Lloyd is the film’s best asset.
The Dark Humor
Addams Family Values is funnier than the first film, but it is also meaner. The jokes about the baby, about the camp, about the family’s adjustment to normalcy all land with a grim edge. There is a running gag about Pubert’s transformation into a blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked blond baby, and the film treats it with genuine dread. That is the point: the Addams family is not comfortable with change, and the film enjoys watching them suffer through it.
The Cast
The supporting cast is strong. Carol Kane returns as Grandmama, and Carel Struycken and Christopher Hart return as Lurch and Thing. Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski play the camp counselors Gary Granger and Becky Martin-Granger, and Mercedes McNab plays Amanda Buckman. Judith Malina is replaced by Carol Kane as Grandmama, and the film is better for it.
What Works and What Doesn’t
- The Debbie Jellinsky/Fester plot is the strongest thread. It is dark, funny and well acted.
- Wednesday is the standout performance. Ricci plays her with menace and wit.
- The camp scenes are the weakest stretch. They slow the pace and weaken the tension.
- The humor is meaner than the first film, and some viewers may find it too harsh.
Key Facts
- Title: Addams Family Values (1993)
- Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
- Writer: Paul Rudnick
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Genres: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Budget: $47 million
- Box office: $111 million
The Verdict
Addams Family Values is a flawed but entertaining sequel. It is darker, funnier and more confident than the first film, but it also drags in stretches. The Debbie Jellinsky/Fester plot is a masterpiece of dark comedy, while the camp subplot is filler. The film’s humor is meaner than the first, and some viewers may find it too harsh. Overall, it is a worthy addition to the franchise, even if it does not match the pure joy of the original.
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