Meet the Applegates (1991)

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The improbable mix of early Tim Burton production design, the tone of Home Alone, a strange Paul Verhoeven-type satire, surreal David Lynchness, John Waters crass and a bit of John Landis cartoonishness for good measure.

This flick is not available on Netflix nor on Amazon streaming, and I don't know why, because it is truly hilarious. The negative comments here are incomprehensible to me. The comic premise of giant bugs disguising themselves as humans is no more difficult to accept here than it was in "Men in Black," except this is a much better movie. The predictable left wing environmental theme is here, but is by no means overpowering enough to detract from the riotously funny look at middle class suburban life, with all its pretensions, facades, commercialism, and sexual foibles that this movie supplies. All the cast do their jobs wonderfully, Stockard Channing and Ed Begley Jr. in particular. Dabney Coleman does a great job in what could be called a cameo role. The script is just wonderful. I was able to catch this on one of the cable channels and I'm glad I was able to do so. It provided a wonderful hour and a half of comedic entertainment.

Now I can take this movie in one of two ways: either it is a criticism of American society or it is a praise of American society. I don't think that it is a movie that is meant to make a statement but rather it is for the entertainment of young adults. Now one of the reasons that this movie doesn't work is because the concept of it, giant insects moving into middle class America and disguising themselves as humans, is really something aimed at children, yet a lot of the in movie concepts, such as the continual drug references and hints at homosexuality, is something that only adults can understand. I don't know if this movie flopped, but in America it did receive an R rating (which is MA in Australia).Now let us look at the critical side of the film. What it seems to do is to take aspects of American society and blow them out of proportion. Meet the Applegates focuses on the middle class society and it seems to satirically attack what is considered average. The Applegates are supposed to be the average American family so that they don't look out of place. The problem is that by being the average they are actually singled out because the average is not in fact average. Even though they try to be average, problems arise. For example, the boy, Johnny, likes heavy metal music - this is what is average, but because of this he attracts the two delinquents who smoke and are into drugs. In the end he becomes a drug dealer who has informants everywhere and becomes far from being average.The girl is different. She is supposed to be a sweet woman who kisses on the second date. What they don't expect is that her boyfriend wants to go all the way. What angered me was that the guy practically raped her, yet at the end of the movie it is the Applegates that are accused of being bad. The only reason that he was cocooned was because he discovered that she was not human. In the end he went unpunished for something that I consider wrong. Yet this also is a comment on society. The girls knew what he was like and they could handle him, but the insect didn't so when he started coming on strong she couldn't fight back. Thus we see here that the American society overcomes the alien.This brings me on to the uniqueness of the American society as is portrayed in the film, and along with this is how the society will overcome its invaders. The concept of the secretary jumping her employer comes out, and Dick doesn't really understand the whole concept and thus is caught and fired. The secretary though was coming on very strong and though Dick succumbed, in the end she walks away free while Dick is the one who is punished. We also see this with Jane about how the American, who has grown up around a consumer society, has a spending curve that enables her to survive, while Jane, who is new to the society, is introduced to credit and rushes out and begins to buy all of these wonderful things. In the end, her desire to own more destroys her as the bank comes along and takes everything away.What we see here is American Society at its lowest, yet there is a patriotic speech at the end of the movie about how everybody should live in harmony and how we should not infringe on others societies. The bug killer is attacked but in general all of the things that went on in the movie seem to be ignored. Even though we see a degenerate and sadistic society, on the level, humanity is nice and loving and all of this is unimportant. That is what makes me sick.

Meet the Applegates, there's the head of the family Richard Applegate (Ed Begley Jr.) also known as Dick, his wife Jane (Stockard Channing) & their two teenage children Johnny (Robert Jayne as Bobby Jacoby) & Sally (Camile Cooper as Cami Cooper). The Applegates at first glance appear to be a normal middle class American family when they move into a quiet suburban town somewhere in Ohio to all their new neighbours & friends. But in reality the Applegates are in fact giant cockroach type insects from the Amazonian rain forests disguised as humans. These giant insects are fed up of us humans chopping down their home, polluting the planet & having no respect or regard for the Earth & it's other inhabitants, fair enough... Dick talks himself into a job at the local nuclear power plant & plans to cause a meltdown, the Applegates & their species then hope the resulting radiation leak will wipe out the entire human race & leave the insect kingdom to live in peace. At first things go extremely well & their plan works perfectly but soon enough the pleasures & peril's of everyday American life begin to have an effect on their family unit & their plans. First Sally has sex with Vincent Sampson (Adam Biesk) whom finds out that she is a giant cockroach so Sally cocoons him & takes him home which causes problems as Vincent is the son of one of the Applegates neighbours, Greg Sampson (Glenn Shadix) who is a bug exterminator. Johnny gets involved with two dope smoking twins, Kevin (Philip Arthur Ross) & Kenny (Steven Robert Ross) & becomes addicted to dope himself. Jane can't stop buying things on credit, Dick has an affair with his secretary Dottie (Savannah Smith Boucher) & gets himself fired from the nuclear plant. Their carefully thought out plans & the very existence of their species lay in tatters as living an everyday American life has all but destroyed them, but others of their kind are on the way...Co-written & directed by Micheal Lehmann I thought Meet the Applegates was a highly original & very enjoyable comic horror. The script by Lehmann & Redbeard Simmons really hits the nail on the head with it's witty & satirical look on middle class American life. I loved the scene where Jane wouldn't have sex with Dick so he finds a picture of two insects having sex & masturbates, or the scene when Johnny questions if smoking dope is safe & his two spaced out friends say "we do it all the time" "and look at us", in fact Meet the Applegates is full of great individual scenes. The Applegates descent from the perfect American family into the emotional wrecks they ended up as was just spot on for me & although obviously the story is pure fantasy it seemed almost believable. It has considerable charm, the themes & issues that it raises & tackles are handled well & it manages to both tell a story which at the same time has a strong message & manages to entertain. Meet the Applegates is rather silly when all said & done but if you want something a little different & you are able to just go with the bizarre notion of giant cockroaches disguised as humans then you should be rewarded with a great viewing experience, the ending was a bit of a cop out though. The creature effects by Kevin Yagher are generally impressive & the bugs looked both quite cute & creepy at the same time. The transformation scenes are pretty good as well. The acting is pretty much spot on from everyone & all the characters are likable except Johnny Applegate & Aunt Bea (Dabney Coleman) who both irritated me. Meet the Applegates is generally very well made with nice production values & nothing really to complain about. Overall I really liked Meet the Applegates, it's a very original piece of storytelling that definitely stands out as being just that bit different which makes a nice change. I wholeheartedly recommend Meet the Applegates & urge anyone to at least give it a go if you get the opportunity.