I decided to watch this again for the first time in a couple of decades because of a post I saw online with an excerpt from a screenwriter's notes about how they wanted Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) to give off demonic levels of horniness in every scene they were in together. I was curious to see if that came off in what is basically a family comedy.
Of course, I Googled it last week trying to find that post, and it turns out the person who originally tweeted it made it up as a joke. Well, shit. But what the hell, watch the movie anyway and see if it's an accurate description.
I'd say, yes, pretty much. Maybe not every scene they're in; but the exceptions are understandable. When Gomez is depressed and lost over the betrayal by Fester, for example. Not really appropriate to the mood the movie is going for then. Otherwise, yeah, those two are pretty much down to fuck all the time.
It's fun to watch Huston and Julia flirt and swoon over each other constantly, though. Gomez is much more over the top, while Morticia is very composed, with a dry sense of humor. Huston lets a bit of the emotion out as needed, just glimpses to hint at what's lurking underneath. Meanwhile, Raul Julia's over here looking like he's having the time of his life leaping around with swords and doing Cossack dances.
The movie does, as far as I know, capture the feel of the old TV show and the New Yorker cartoons that, for all they're a little kooky, the Addams are a close-knit loving family. It's just that their idea of siblings playing together involves electric chairs and meat cleavers. And the actors play it all perfectly straight, because it is normal to their characters.
Really, even the other characters don't act like it's too weird. Like the judge doesn't hate the Addamses because they're weirdos. He hates them because Gomez keeps hitting golf balls through his windows. Which is, frankly, kind of a dick move, and also kind of stupid to piss off a judge. Tully accepts Gomez wants to swordfight whenever he visits. It annoys him, just like the Gate catching his jacket, but he's used to it. When Gomez and Morticia get in a bidding war over the Chinese finger trap they put up for the charity auction, and it practically turns into foreplay, nobody in the audience blinks an eye. That's just how Gomez and Morticia act. (There's one notable exception, but I'll get to him.)
Which lets the audience react on their own terms rather than nudging them and going "eh, eh? Pretty weird, right? Bet you'd like to laugh at it, huh?"
The plot's kind of an odd duck. Not the part about someone trying to steal the family fortune and their home. I feel like 75% of all family movies in the '80s and '90s involved someone losing their house. Ah, for the days when people could actually dream of having a house to get stolen/robbed/bulldozed as part of a major commercial development.
The bit where Fester's been missing for 25 years, and returns is a little more unusual. Fester's the one who does react to the oddness of the family. Which, since he's supposed to be an imposter initially, and isn't from around there, makes perfect sense. But even then Christopher Lloyd doesn't play Fester as grossed out, so much as just confused. Because Gomez keeps expecting him to remember things, and he doesn't know them. He gets scared when they travel down an unexpected slide, but it's because he was caught by surprise. Understandable reactions, especially if you factor in the eventual amnesia explanation, and figure some part of him feels this is normal.
I'm not sure why Christopher Lloyd decided to wear a "I just pooped" look through most of the movie, but he does. Interesting choice to be sure.
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