The Addams Family

The Addams Family

Starring Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard

Directed by Greg Tiernan & Conrad Vernon

The Story:
Offbeat monsters Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) have been run out of their home by a group of humans, and decided to settle in a place no one would ever want to live - New Jersey.  They find an abandoned asylum on top of a hill and call it home, where they spend the next thirteen years with their daughter Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) and son Puglsey (Finn Wolfhard), along with their butler Lurch and Thing.  They enjoy a life of solitude until Wednesday finds a balloon that flew up from the town below, and she desires to see what the world has to offer.

The world, as it turns out, consists of reality home makeover host Margaux Needler (Allison Janney), who maintains a firm hold on the town of Assimilation that resides below the mountain.  Clouds lift and they finally see the Addams mansion, and Margaux sets out to give it a makeover to keep the town looking pretty and wholesome, as Wednesday becomes friends with Margarux' daughter, and begins school.  Meanwhile, Gomez and his brother Fester (Nick Kroll) work with Pugsley for his upcoming coming-of-age ritual known as the Mazurka, and Pugsley fears he won't be able to pull it off.  Wednesday begins desiring a normal life, and Morticia worries that she's loosing her daughter -and all the while Margaux hatches a plan to get rid of the Addams family for good.

The Synopsis:
First created by Charles Addams in a one-panel New Yorker cartoon in 1938, the Addams Family became household names as the decades continued, and received their actual names in the 1960s television series.  Two live-action films, a Saturday morning cartoon, and a Broadway musical all followed, but it seemed like the most dysfunctionally-functional family faded to obscurity until the 2019 animated film that tried to resurrect them from the death of obscurity.  While it was a welcoming sight to see one of the most uniquely wholesome families back on the big screen, the story itself doesn't do them justice, resulting in just a typical animated film that follows the same notes (much like Vic Mizzy's catchy theme song) and doesn't offer anything beyond the typical, except for a stellar voice cast and dazzling animations.

Much like an episodic series, this film centers on several different stories that eventually come together at the end in order to create a reason to make an entire film instead of a Netflix series.  We get the story of why Gomez and Morticia had to move to New Jersey, Wednesday's desire to live a normal life, her typical teenage angst against her mother, Pugsley's coming-of-age ceremony, Gomez's fears that Pugsley isn't going to do well, and the town's general disdain for the unique family. Like the notes on the piano, each story moves to their own beat before coming together at the end, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but doesn't result in anything memorable.

The Addams family is unique in that they relish the negative, they thrive on the macabre, and they celebrate the darkness - but yet they're the picture perfect family dynamic.  You get the deep love between Morticia and Gomez.  You feel the sibling bond between Wednesday and Pugsley (even when Wednesday buries him alive).  You understand the connection between the parents and their children.  No one hates one another (well, maybe they do hate, but in their world that's love, and they don't express malicious intent for one another - actually, they do, but it's out of love...makes no sense but it works), and you know they'd die for one another if necessary.  There's so many directions the story could've went, and instead it settled for the same old beats of other animated films of the like, where you're supposed to learn a valuable lesson about not judging books by their covers (both the normal looking on the abnormal, and vice versa) - and the only reason it works at all is due to the entirely capable voice cast.

Oscar Isaac gives Gomez a deep emotional depth but also a lovable quirky attitude, while Charlize Theron gives Morticia a strong, unifying feel as the matriarch of the family (interestingly enough, Isaac and Theron recorded their roles totally apart from one another and never even met until a few weeks ago).  Finn Wolfhard gives Pugsley a tween-like innocence and also petulance for malice (but in a loving way), and Chloe Grace Moretz shines as the unemotional Wednesday.

Seeing the family interacting with the town is a pure joy, especially with the beautiful blend of animation - the town is bright, cheery, full of lively colors, while the Addams are all drab, in black, and obviously sticks out like a sore thumb.  The townspeople seem to be more welcoming than their previous neighbors, but are thrown into a tizzy due to Margaux's meddling, who desires the town to be as pristine and wholesome as it can be - as long as she can serve as the town's leader.  As the entire Addams family clan meets for Pugsley's ceremony, the townspeople plan their attack, resulting in the humorous final moments of the film that teaches the important moral lesson of accepting people for who they are, and ties everything up in a nice little bow.  Unfortunately, that's what also makes it completely unmemorable, and while it's a joy to watch, it's something you'll forget about days later - so it's better to save this for home viewing than making your way to the theater.

The Summary:
Despite boasting a strong vocal cast that gives great performances and top-notch animations, "The Addams Family" is bogged down by a generic story and typical beats that culminate in an unmemorable film focusing on one of America's most uniquely loving families.

The Score: B