The Brady Bunch Movie

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 1999 Filmcritic.com

Did I grow up Brady? Did I! One of the first of the 1970s TV series to get the big-screen treatment, The Brady Bunch Movie remains virtually the only successful film from that genre -- one that studios continue to experiment in with disastrous results. (Full disclosure: We here at filmcritic.com are rabidly fanatical for Josie and the Pussycats.)

But Brady -- the movie -- does everything right, balancing faithfulness with the original film with rib-jabbing at its family-friendly kitsch. The catch: The Bradys are updated to the 1990s, but they haven't changed a bit. The plot itself -- about a plan to put a mini-mall in place of the Brady block -- is a throwaway. It's just an excuse to set us up with endless Brady antics, from Cindy's tattling to Peter's voice changing, to Johnny Bravo. If all this means something to you, the film will be nothing short of hilarious. If it's meaningless to you, just look at what you missed!

Okay, I'm not exactly "selling" this movie to you. What can I say? The Bradys simply have no equal -- both the goodie-two-shoes originals and the lost-in-the-past updates. Give it a shot.

Rating

4.0 out of 5 Stars

  • Director: Betty Thomas
  • Producer: David Kirkpatrick, Lloyd J. Schwartz, Sherwood Schwartz
  • Screenwriter: Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner
  • Stars: Shelley Long, Gary Cole, Christine Taylor, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jennifer Elise Cox, Paul Sutera, Olivia Hack, Jesse Lee, Henriette Mantel, David Graf, Florence Henderson, Jack Noseworthy, Megan Ward, Jean Smart, Michael McKean, Moriah Shining Dove Snyder, Alanna Ubach, Shane Conrad, Marissa Ribisi
  • MPAA Rating: PG-13

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