Addams Family Values (1993)

There's so much right about this second installment of the Addams chronicles that one almost hates to carp, but here goes: The script bites. Yes, writer Paul Rudnick comes up with great gags (Gomez to Fester: ''Someday you'll meet someone special someone who won't press charges''); yes, the effects are great; and sure, the actors are all world-class scene-stealers. But the villain here—a black widow killer played by Joan Cusack—is not just a cliche, she's as unreal a character as the Addamses themselves. Without believably normal types as foils, this kind of comic-book Grand Guignol gets real tired real fast.