Addams Family Values (1993)

Love it. Had it on VHS. My older sister broke it because she is a bitch and my mom refused to buy another one. She told me I needed to take better care of my stuff.

I adore that movie! Seen it dozens of times, and it still amuses!

I totally identify with the bookish kid at the preppy summer camp. He's the "me" character.

R1 So did you pull a Debbie and burn the house down?

Christine Baranski and Peter MacNicol were great, too. And the other campers and their obnoxious parents.

"Our Amanda's already skipped two grades. How about your boy?"

"Probation!"

One of those films I love just as much as an adult as I did as a child. The previous film, while good, dragged a bit; the writers tried too hard to inject pathos into the Fester plot, and it didn't really work. This one is hilarious from start to finish. The only weak link for me is Pugsley - I think the writers just weren't sure what to do with him beyond making him Wednesday's sidekick.

The highlight is when Debbie is giving her Malibu Barbie monologue, and Morticia and Granny are sympathising with her. If only Debbie had just been upfront about being a homicidal maniac from the get-go, the whole family would have welcomed her with open arms.

R6 and just before that, Debbie's afternoon of dancing at a sailor bar, blowing up her own house, and road-raging through suburbia in her Mercedes and shouting at all the slower drivers.

Cusack is over the top fabulous

"Miss Debbie!"

"Deborah!!"

It works because there's jokes for kids and adults. I was little when it came out and there's so many layers that I catch now that I never did as a kid.

I love Morticia's parting insult in Debby's trashy manse.

"You have gone too far. You have married Fester, you have destroyed his spirit, you have taken him from us. All that I could forgive. But, Debbie...Pastels?"

"GET OUT!"

R11 - and shortly before that:

"You have enslaved him. You have placed Fester under some strange sexual spell. I respect that."

Ma-LI-Bu Barbie!

[quote]Love it. Had it on VHS. My older sister broke it because she is a bitch and my mom refused to buy another one. She told me I needed to take better care of my stuff.

You should have told Mother it was her responsibility to "take care of" your awful sister.

Anjelica Huston, Joan Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, and Raul Julia are having a blast and you can tell.

R14 No, I just rented it week after week at Blockbuster.

Joan Cusack deserved an Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actress.

It truly is one of the rare sequels infinitely better than the original.

If it was so successful, why didn't they make another sequel?

R17, while it turned a profit and remains a cult classic, it only made half of what the original did. Besides, Raul Julia died the year after its release and the kids went through puberty (Christina Ricci started appearing in more adult roles only 3 years later).

Pastels?

Love this movie.

Was this the only movie where they gave Joan a chance to be sexy?

R17, Raul Julia died shortly after the sequel. Also, they did make a late-90's installment with no-names and it completely bombed.

R21 Wasn't Daryl Hannah in that one as Morticia? After she climbed that tree but before she married Jackson Browne?

Great movie.

"I'll be the victim! I'll be the victim!"

"All your life."

It's a great line delivery from Christina.

It's definitely Joan Cusack's best performance and movie.

"Gimme a kiss!"

"Gimme a Twenty!"

[quote] Also, they did make a late-90's installment with no-names and it completely bombed.

The Addams Family Reunion. I remember watching part of it. Couldn't get through more than about fifteen minutes.

I’ll have you arrested for trying to visit

"Who are you? WHAT are you? Who moved the rock?!?!"

"Oh no. He lives."

"Is that your bathing suit?"

"Is that your overbite?"

So many Debbie lines I still like to randomly drop into conversations:

"Give me a kiss..." "Give me a twenty..."

"Don't touch it till the scab falls off...."

"These are beautiful things! They're from catalogues!"

The Thanksgiving play at camp is hysterical!

"Sorry, Debbie. No Mercedes this year. We have to set an example!"

"And so, the next night, the ghost returned to the haunted cabin. And he said to the campers, "None of you really believe in me, so I'll have to prove my power." And the next morning, when the campers woke up....all of their old noses had grown back."

WEHT Joan Cusack? I never see her any more, and if any actor in the world should have a long career, it should be her.

But she hasn't done much in recent years except be the voice of Jessie in "Toy Story" stuff, which is a living, but she should have first pick of the scene-stealing mother or co-worker roles.

Joan Cusack was magnificent. I love the movie. The one-liners are deadly.

R25. I laughed so hard reading that line.

r35 She was on "Shameless" for 44 episodes from 2011-2015.

R35, instead Hollywood has given us her boring older sister lately.

What the hell is that about, R39? Ann Cusack is a void of personality and charm, but she steadily works.

I will admit I've heard Joan can be kind of a bitch and is nothing like her quirky characters, whereas Ann might be nicer.

R40 Ann probably works cheaper, and has a less annoying laugh.

No mention of blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene with DL fave Cynthia Nixon. (Also Peter Graves and Tony Shalhoub.)

And Nathan Lane also has a small part.

So Joan Cusack did TWO movies (the other is "In and Out") written by Paul Rudnick and which feature the Village People's "Macho Man" on the soundtrack.

Set this!

I don't see how she was (deservedly) nominated for an Oscar for In & Out, but not Addam's Family Values (which I really do think was a stronger performance)....although, "Fuck Barbra Streisand...and you!" still makes me laugh hysterically.

Joan Cusack was Justice Strauss in the new Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019). She was in most episodes. She's also 60 years old has had a great career since 1980. She's enjoying her family.

Anjelica Huston is the one who barely works now. She doesn't have a family either.

Don't you want to help me realize my vision?

I’m not perky.

That’s for damn sure,

I went to school with a kid whose parent's wouldn't let him watch The Addams Family of The Munsters because they were Devil worshippers.

One of the funniest movies of the 90's. Definitely better than the original and I agree that Cusack deserved every award for that performance.

[quote]I went to school with a kid whose parent's wouldn't let him watch The Addams Family of The Munsters because they were Devil worshippers.

School? Did they not teach the proper use of apostrophes there?

It was funny except for the racist parts at camp. I hate woke culture and even I was offended. I guess it isn’t funny seeing white and rich racist kids and the racist camp counselors attacking all the brown kids/ weird kids with no one standing up for them.

Joan carried this fucking movie , without her it really is nothing. Raul Julia and Angelica Huston were tedious and unfunny throughout.

R52 the payoff of that is at the end though when the brown and fat kids take over the camp.

But R52, isn't the whole point that the "misfit" kids get one over on the popular ones (and the counsellors) at the end?

Yeah the kids who are different have a revolt in the end, so I'd say it's a positive, politically correct message in the end. Context is important.

Wednesday has the type of personality that would never be defeated by anyone, let alone a bunch of clueless, rich, blonde, white kids. She is going to be in charge of everything for her entire life.

R52 Unfortunately that was the reality back in the 90's for "different" kids.

They wouldn’t have the balls for the “jamal” and “indian, enough said” jokes nowadays. They weren’t really needed, they were more offensive than funny and I wish Amanda’s racist parents got more than pies to the face.

Why were they doing a Thanksgiving musical in summer, anyway?

[quote]Joan carried this fucking movie , without her it really is nothing.

What am I--chopped liver?

"Joan carried this fucking movie , without her it really is nothing."

Cusack wasn't in any of the marvelous summer camp scenes, those were carried by Christina Ricci, with help from some excellent adult and child supporting players. Except for Pugsley, who I agree was kind of thrown away, they didn't know what to do with him.

It was, IMHO, the best role Joan Cusack has ever played... up to now. Good actors can work as long as they can remember her lines, I still hope that one of these days, someone will give her a really stellar role as a smartass grandma or something.

Can't believe anyone would say Julia and Huston were tedious in this film! They're perfect as Gomez and Morticia. Cusack is the star of the film, but the rest of the cast are great as well.

"Don't... I... Deserve... Love? ...and jewelry?"