A Very Brady Sequel (1996)

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Still super weird (sibling love) and sporadically funny ("scule"), but so much of the fish-out-of-water stuff that made the original a modern classic is gone. Also, Tim Matheson is far too aware and winky.

First off, it should go without saying that The Brady Bunch was one of the worst, lamest, stupidest shows on television, but it goes without saying, too, that a lot of forty-and- fiftysomethings disagree. That, I think, is pretty much solely because it reminds them of their childhood, when most of them were happier, and had their whole life ahead of them, and any show that they remember watching in their youth, and that has some semblance of the styles, values and attitudes of that era, regardless of how bad the writing is, will do the same thing for them. With dialogue and behavior so brain-damaged it's almost a surreal experience to watch, it's perfect fodder for a satire. It should have been done in the late seventies, of course, a few years after it was cancelled, but better late than never. Unfortunately, these are affectionate satires created by people who seemingly actually liked the show, but they still work because the jokes are so dead-on and they string all the elements of the show together to create simple, entertaining plots. They're actually very campy, which is probably the best way to approach this immaterial material. The sequel, for a change, is the superior of the two. The first one was kind of boring, which is the worst thing a satire can be. The plot of the stolen horse in the sequel is appropriately ludicrous. Christine Taylor as Marcia bears a freakily uncanny resemblance to Maureen McCormick. Olivia Hack creates a classic distortion of Cindy. The only characters that don't quite work are Christopher Daniel Barnes as Greg, using facial mannerisms that parody straight-edge 70's nerds in general but not Greg in particular, and Shelley Long as Carol. There's always something subtly sad and pitiful about Shelly Long's face, voice and mannerisms in everything she's acted in. It works for Jay Pritchett's ex-wife and Diane Chambers, but is precisely wrong for Carol Brady. Her character seems like it thinks deeply and gets depressed, which makes the character too three-dimensional. Tim Matheson as Carol's fake ex-husband is humorously self-serving and unctuous. It's just personal taste, but I found the short-sleeve Banlon shirts he wears in almost every scene really annoying. Zsa Zsa Gabor's cameo was great. I don't see the satirical significance of having Rosie O'Donnell there though. There was one missed opportunity for a good joke. After the scene where Roy has a trip after eating spaghetti in which Alice accidentally put his stash of psychedelic mushrooms, he asks Marsha, "Who put the psychedelic mushrooms in the spaghetti?" She should have said, "Go ask Alice. I think she'll know."

I hated the original "Brady Bunch"--the show was totally saccharine and about as edgy as a basketball! When the Brady movie came out in 1995, I was thrilled--as the saccharine Brady family was gone and the movie had a wonderful way of making fun of itself. Because of this good-natured lampoon, I was excited to see the sequel--and it did not disappoint--being MUCH better, even, than the previous film.Here, the plot is much sillier and the film is much more daring--going some sick places that the last film never dared. Jan is back--and even crazier than before and simply a hoot. And, there is a totally sick plot involving Marsha and Greg that had me falling on the floor laughing.One of the only reservations about the film is that it, unlike the TV show, there is some family-unfriendly humor. It was very, very funny and welcome...but not for the younguns. The other is that to enjoy and appreciate the film, you really need to have seen the original show. If you never saw the show, you will miss a lot of the references and won't enjoy it nearly as much. So, as a result, here is how I rate the film: 9 if you've seen the original show and hated it and 7 if you've never seen it and 2 if you LOVE the original show and can't imagine anyone lampooning this 'pure genius' (yeah, right).The

Fans of the original series divide on this take-off of the show where Carol's original husband shows up alive, apparently looking for a lost treasure that could lead to a lot of money. The only good thing about it is that it would mean Greg and Marcia aren't really siblings anymore as they FINALLY realize what growing up means to their bodies.As with the first movie, some of the show's original scenarios are also played out, including Greg moving up to the attic, dating his sister's rival for cheerleader captain, as well as Marcia dating his rival on the basketball squad. Peter goes to work at his father's firm (I thought it was Greg who got the job in the original series), Jan still deals with her personal insecurities, Bobby becomes a junior detective, and Cindy is still obsessed with her doll.The only good thing that they got the rest of the scenarios in from the original series is that it means there won't be another sequel starring this clan of a misplaced family, stuck in the 70's.2 out of 10 stars is a gift, in my opinion.