KATHERINE MONK Sun Movie Critic MOVIES 1111 1. A 11 Irl TEETERING on the brink of absolute tastelessness and cutting-edge humor, Addams Family Values lands just where you want it: dancing gracefully on the grave of one long gag. The whole clan is back a little older, a little more cunning and, at times, a lot funnier than before, thanks to a blistering script by Paul Rudnick. "What kind of woman are you looking for?" asks Gomez of his dear brother Fester. "One that won't press charges "Where do you find these Ad dams men?" asks Debbie, the new nanny trying to hide her gold-digging motives. "It has to be damp answers Morticia with a twisted grin. There may not be much of a plot to keep the whole film moving, but who cares? When the lines work, they work beautifully and when they Predictable Family Values rescued by wicked script for gut-busting fun' 13 ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES Starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Joan Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, directed by Barry Sonnenteld Capitol, Esplanade, Richmond Centre, Station Square, Eagle Ridge, Towne, Harris Road don't, well, you cut to another scene five seconds later. There is one unifying theme, however, and it's straight from the mouth of one of America's funniest men, former vice-president Dan Quayle: "family values." The film opens with the entrance of another Addams: young Pubert, born complete with Gomez mustachio and jet black hair. When the proud parents bring the deadly cute bundle home, siblings Pugsley and Wednesday feel one of them must die so better kill young Pubert off first. This opening 20 minutes of the film, as the terrors try and kill the young boy, are just a wee bit uncomfortable to watch in the wake of the Bulger case, although clearly, nothing as tasteless as any comparison was intended. Not that Rudnick steers clear of newsy humor: one quick Michael Jackson reference plays on the child-molestation allegations, but it's so quick, you may not even notice. It's just supposed to be good-ol' evil-natured fun in the fine Addams tradition. Besides, in the spirit of our title, Gomez (rendered perfectly by Julia) and Morticia (played with sinister and statuesque beauty by Huston), do have family values and they adore their children. They just express it in a different way. When the new nanny (Joan Cusack) arrives on the scene, hoping to score with Uncle Fester's dough, she convinces Morticia and Gomez to send them off to camp. "Fresh air? Pine? This is no place for a child," Gomez pronounces, but it's too late. After all, if the kids were pulled out of camp, we wouldn't have all the great comic opportunities of seeing Pugsley and Wednesday mix with all the snotty blond-haired blue-eyed Bel-Air whiners to be. We also wouldn't have the chance of seeing young Christina Ricci give the strongest performance in the whole movie as Wednesday the child who does not smile, but has a wicked sense of political correctness. While predictable verging on boring at its worst moments, Addams Family Values has some classic moments of gut-busting comedy. But seeing as most of them would play equally well on a small screen, and the film is not shot on a wide-ratio, you may want to save it for a quiet night at home.
