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A VERY BRADY SEQUEL
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Shelley Long, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Henriette Mantel
Director: Betty Thomas
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby
Surround
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Paramount
Features: None
Length: 89 Minutes
Release Date: June 10, 2003
“Oh,
my God…I’m trippin’ with the Bradys…”
Kitsch
me if you can…the Bradys are back, and better than ever!
While
The Brady Bunch Movie brought our favorite 70s time capsule family into
the 90s and established a new comic tone for television’s most well known
tic-tac-toe clan of nine, A Very Brady Sequel updates it with a better
storyline…not to mention some new and daring ideas that might seem a bit
shocking, but are terrifically funny nonetheless!
When
a con man (Matheson) pretends to be Carol Brady’s (Long) long missing and
presumed dead first husband Roy in order to get his hands on a priceless
artifact in the Brady living room (actually that God awful horse that sat below
the stairway), he figures with the family’s innocence and trusting, it’ll be
an easy steal. But life for a 90s
guy in the quintessential 70s household won’t be as easy as it sounds!
He
stands to make millions, if he can only put up with the wide-eyed stares of the
Brady kids, including the awkward permanently-in-the-middle Jan who decides to
take to him as a father!
Okay,
the plot is easily described, but a sketchy outline doesn’t really give you
the depths of comical wonderfulness this movie explores. Starting with…are you ready for this?…a possible
blossoming romance between Marcia and Greg…after all, they aren’t really
blood brother and sister! There’s
also the complications caused to Mike (Cole) and Carol’s relationship caused
by Roy’s sudden appearance, Peter learning to be more manly under Roy’s
cynical guidance, and the appearance of Jan’s imaginary boyfriend George
Glass.
Two
sequences in particularly make me chuckle every time I think about them:
one is a dinner table bit in which Roy unknowingly ingests some magic
mushrooms that involves animation, music, and an almost Yellow Submarine kind
of vibe. The other is when Roy is
escorted into town by the Brady kids, who dance and sing in their usual way, and
a reluctant Roy is seen begrudgingly doing the moves with them!
The
best part about these movies continues to be the great cast, with dead-on
perfect impressions of the original show’s acting troupe by not only Shelley
Long, Gary Cole and Henriette Mantel as Alice, but a wonderfully winning cast of
kids that infect the movie with energy, charm, and warmhearted parody.
I
had always wished for a third Brady movie with this cast, but for whatever
reason, it wasn’t meant to be. Kids
grow up and out of their early roles…hell, even original Greg Brady Barry
Williams is spoofing Eminem these days! But
I’ll always be grateful that the team dipped into the well a second time, and
found an even better treasure with the sequel than the original.
This is simply very funny stuff.
Video
****
The
original film looked good, the second one even better.
This anamorphic transfer has all of the colorful glory of its
predecessor, but with no complaints as far as visible grain or texture.
Images are sharp and clearly rendered, tones are rich and distinct, and
detail level is strong throughout. The
animated sequences are a nice touch as well!
Audio
***
This
disc offers a good 5.1 soundtrack, with most of the energy actually coming in
the opening adventure sequence, where a big storm surrounds you from all sides
and kicks in from the .1 channel. For
the rest of the way, the dialogue is clean and clear, the songs come across
nicely, and the dynamic range is formidable.
Features
(zero stars)
Nothing.
Summary:
