THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE
US, 1995, 90 minutes, Colour.
Shelley Long, Gary Cole, Christine Taylor, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jennifer Elise Cox, Paul Sutera, Olivia Hack, Jesse Lee Soffer, Henriette Mantell, David Graf, Florence Henderson, Jack Noseworthy, Jean Smart, Michael Mc Kean, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Ann B.Davis, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight.
Directed by Betty Thomas.
The Brady Bunch was a significant television success from 1969 to 1974, with Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as the parents of six children, three boys, three girls – and a cook. It showed something of the American image of the period, the Father Knows Best, The Partridge Family kind of entertainment.
The present film is something of a time capsule in so far as it looks as if it is presenting the Brady Bunch in its 1970s incarnation but is actually an extended spoof of the family, its over-optimistic way of life, the ingenuous love and enthusiasm of the parents, the eccentricities of the children – but placed in the 1990s in which they are completely anachronistic.
For those who take this rather literally – and the many who took the very satirical spoof sequel, A Very Brady Sequel (2002) and disapproved – the plot and characterisation make not much sense at all.
The jaunty title song, the absolute earnestness of Gary Cole as Mike Brady, taking himself terribly seriously, the absolute devotion of Shelley Long as Carol… Christine Taylor is vanity herself, always combing her hair, looking ini mirrors, as the self-absorbed Marcia. Jennifer Elise Cox has the difficult role of the middle child who actually hears voices, is overlooked, and loved, has to wear glasses, runs away from home, as Jan. The littlest girl has a compulsive urge to telling the truth with her father giving his usual story about not being a tattletale.
Interestingly, the boys are far less interesting, the oldest attracted to the girls at school, wanting to be a singer called Johnny Bravo, creating inane lyrics for his song. The next boy, Peter, experiences his voice breaking. The youngest boy is almost negligible.
Henriette Mantell is the tough cook, always cheerful, with a wisecrack, and, surprisingly for such a film, in a relationship with the local butcher, David Graf, who stays overnight.
In fact, there is quite a lot of innuendo in this film, possibly none of it in the original television series. The film received a PG-13 in the US and the IMDb indicates this was for “racy innuendo�. There is a young girl at school who is infatuated with Marcia, is in bed with the ingenuous Marcia, is attracted to another girl at school who seems infatuated with her. And, when the final option fails, amongst the neighbours there is a gay couple.
If you are in the mood for a spoof on Americas wholesome self-image, there is much to enjoy in a fairly obvious way.
Direction is by Betty Thomas, acting in the 1970s and 80s, directing a great deal of television and some light movies including Dr Dolittle.
