The Addams Family (2019), All You Want To Know & Watch About A Great Movie
The Addams Family (2019)
The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams’ friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families.
The Addams Family is a 2019 computer-animated supernatural black comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and based on the characters created by Charles Addams. The film stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney.
The film was theatrically released in the United States and in Canada by United Artists Releasing on October 11, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics for its narrative and screenplay, though the performances and animation were praised, and grossed $203 million on a $24 million budget.
A sequel was released on October 1, 2021.
The Addams Family (2019)Â Trailer
The Addams Family (2019) Reviews
There are about half a dozen bright spots in the new animated feature “The Addams Family,” but in between them is the unbright and unoriginal storyline about how the real monsters are the ordinary people, not the weird people.
Charles Addams began creating his deliciously macabre characters for one-panel New Yorker cartoons in 1938, but they didn’t get names and storylines until the 1960’s television series, taking the last name from the cartoonist who created them.
It was only on the air for two seasons, but just about everyone remembers that finger-snapping Vic Mizzy theme song and TV Guide listed them as one of the all-time top ten television families. The series spin-offs include two live-action feature films, a Saturday morning cartoon show, and a Broadway musical.
What makes the Addams Family so appealing is the contrast between the ghoulish details of their lives and the endearing sweetness of their family dynamic. Father Gomez (here voiced by Oscar Isaac) and mother Morticia (Charlize Theron) adore each other and are loving and devoted parents to their daughter Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) and son Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard).
And their deep enjoyment of what otherwise might seem scary—having an escaped prisoner from the asylum for the criminally insane as a butler, a disembodied hand as an all-purpose helper, applying the ashes of dead parents as make-up, encouraging a child to play with explosives—makes it funny and even endearing instead.
In this modernized, animated version, we first see Morticia putting on that ashy make-up for what turns out to be her midnight wedding, interrupted by angry neighbors with torches and pitchforks who want all the people they consider weirdos out of town. Gomez promises her they will find a home that “no one in their right mind would be caught dead in.” Cue the ‘Welcome to New Jersey’ sign. They literally run into the above-mentioned escaped prisoner.
“Is he all right?” No, comes the relieved and delighted reply. “He seems perfectly demented.” The asylum is deserted (except by ghosts), the entrance blocked with yellow crime scene tape. Inside, there are white outlines showing where bodies were discovered. Home sweet home!
Fast forward to 13 years later, with tweens Wednesday and Pugsley happily creating mayhem, or happily unhappily, as Addams family members would never enjoy anything so cheery as happiness. The entire extended family will be arriving in two weeks for the traditional Addams coming-of-age ceremony. It involves an intricate dance with the family scimitar, and Pugsley and Gomez are both worried he will not be able to do it.
Wednesday, whose long braids are tied up like nooses, asks if she can try going to the public school, where she makes a friend (“Eighth Grade’s” Elsie Fisher as Parker) and stands up to a mean girl. This interaction with the “normal” world is intriguing, but quickly abandoned.
Parker’s mother, Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) is the star of a home makeover reality show and she is determined to sell the houses in the new Assimilation community (that is the actual name of the town), where children 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.”
Worried that the big, gloomy Addams mansion will affect sales and the ratings of her live special, she plans to give them a makeover, whether they want one or not. And she uses fake profiles on social media to spread lies that frighten the neighbors, just as the Addams relatives arrive for Pugsley’s big day. It looks like pitchforks and torches again.
The voice talent does their best with the dialogue, but cannot make it snap like Paul Rudnick’s wonderfully witty quips in “Addams Family Values.” The artwork for the characters and setting is fun, though never takes advantage of the possibilities of animation when staging the gestures, expressions, or action sequences.
And there is an oddly casual resolution with a child deciding to leave home and move in with another family that may lead to some questions. Children will enjoy the upside-down world—where dusting the house means making it dustier, and an invitation to the mall is heard as an invitation to a maul—but even children will understand that the theme of encouraging individual expression would be more compelling if the storyline wasn’t so resolutely dull.
The Addams Family (2019) Credits
The Addams Family (2019)
105 minutes
Cast
Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams (voice)
Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams (voice)
Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams (voice)
Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley Addams (voice)
Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester (voice)
Bette Midler as Grandmama (voice)
Allison Janney as Margaux Needler (voice)
Elsie Fisher as Parker Needler (voice)
Aimee Garcia as Denise (voice)
Karen Gillan as Abigail Addams (voice)
Director
- Conrad Vernon
- Greg Tiernan
Characters
- Charles Addams
Screenplay
- Matt Lieberman
- Pamela Pettler
Editor
- Kevin Pavlovic
- David Ian Salter
Story
- Matt Lieberman
Original Music Composer
- Jeff Danna
- Mychael Danna
The Addams Family (2019)Â Plot
An angry mob of villagers that rejects anything macabre in nature disrupts the midnight wedding ceremony of Gomez and Morticia and drives them away with the rest of the Addams clan. During the chaos, Grandmama buys Fester time to evacuate Gomez, Morticia, and Thing.
Gomez and Morticia decide to move to New Jersey, a place “no one would be caught dead in.” There, Gomez, Morticia, and Thing find their “perfect” home in an abandoned asylum on a hill. They meet Lurch, an escaped mental patient whom they hit when Thing was driving their car, and immediately recruit him as their butler.
Thirteen years later, the Addams family continue to live their gloomy lives in isolation from the outside world. Gomez prepares his son Pugsley for his upcoming Mazurka, a rite of passage that every Addams family member takes. Morticia struggles to keep their daughter, Wednesday, from wanting to experience the world outside the mansion after a balloon and confetti appear on their property.
Elsewhere, reality TV host Margaux Needler, who is building a perfect planned community called “Assimilation” so her show will have a successful season finale, discovers the Addams family’s household and becomes determined to rid the town of it when the family refuses to change, starting with spreading rumors about the Addamses through social media, claiming that they are freaks.
Wednesday then meets Margaux’s neglected daughter Parker and convinces Morticia to let her attend junior high school. Pugsley struggles with the complicated traditions and pressure of his Mazurka, even with the guidance of Gomez and Uncle Fester. Grandmama arrives at the house for the event.
At school, Wednesday stands up for Parker and her twin friends Layla and Kayla from the school’s bully Bethany and befriends them after she resurrects some dead frogs and commands them to attack Bethany. Later on, the two discuss their frustrations and change their dressing habits – Parker becomes more gothic and Wednesday dresses more colorfully – to the shock of both of their mothers, with Margaux vowing to destroy the Addamses.
After an argument with Morticia, Wednesday decides to run away in secret and stay with Parker for a while, which Pugsley inadvertently tells Morticia.
As Cousin Itt arrives at the Addams household, Wednesday and Parker discover a secret room under Parker’s house revealing that Margaux has planted hidden cameras in every house she designed in town. Margaux catches the two and locks them in the attic, but Wednesday breaks them out. Margaux rallies the townsfolk to attack the mansion just as the entire Addams clan arrive for Pugsley’s Mazurka.
During the Mazurka, Pugsley fails in front of the whole family, but Gomez admits he forgot to let him be who he is. The mob arrives flinging boulders, severely damaging the mansion and trapping the family inside. Pugsley uses his love of bombs and destruction to defend his family and manages to destroy the mob’s trebuchet.
Wednesday and Parker join in and help everyone out of the wreckage safely with help of the living tree Ichabod.
As Margaux tries to take control once more, her treachery is revealed by Parker. They see that the Addamses are not monsters, but a family, as Wednesday and Parker states that everyone is weird in their own unique way, revealing that Margaux has been spying on Assimilation’s civilians. Margaux’s agent Glenn carries a message from the network stating that her show is now cancelled for her crimes thanks to Parker live-streaming her tirade against the civilians with her phone.
As Fester comes up with a compromise for Margaux, Assimilation’s civilians realize the error of their ways.
After they work together to rebuild the mansion, the Addams family and Assimilation’s civilians live in peace. Margaux becomes Fester’s business partner, selling homes to the other members of the Addams clan, and Pugsley completes his Mazurka.
The Addams Family (2019) Box office
The Addams Family grossed $100 million in the United States and Canada and $103 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $203 million.[4][5] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $76 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[21]
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Gemini Man and Jexi and was projected to gross $28–30 million from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $9.7 million on its first day including $1.25 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $30.3 million, finishing second behind holdover Joker.
It made $16.3 million in its second weekend, $12 million in its third and $8.2 million in its fourth, finishing fourth, third and sixth, respectively.
The Addams Family (2019) Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% and an average rating of 5.3/10, based on 157 reviews. The website’s critical consensus reads, “The Addams Family‘s starry voice cast and eye-catching animation aren’t enough to outweigh its saccharine handling of the delightfully dark source material.”
On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews.”[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that surveyed children and parents gave it 4 and 3.5 out of 5 stars, respectively.
The Addams Family (2019) Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | HMMA Award | Best Original Song – Animated Film (“Haunted Heart”) |
Christina Aguilera (written and performed by) Antonina Armato (written by) Tim James (written by) |
Nominated |
| 2021 | Saturn Awards[31] | Best Animated Film | The Addams Family | Nominated |
The Addams Family (2019) Movie Info
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