Film #165 - The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
As I think I’ve mentioned before, there are several different ways to bring a television series to the big screen. The two most common ones are to extend the original series (Star Trek, The Munsters) and to “re-imagine” the series (Mission: Impossible, Lost in Space). Other types include the recreation (The Beverly Hillbillies, Miami Vice) and some sort of mix of various types (Dragnet, Bewitched).
But the least used form is that of a parody. The best example of this strategy is The Brady Bunch Movie. It takes the basic premise of the original show and, rather than updating it for the 90s or trying to capture the original feel, it brings the dated, 70s characters directly into the 90s world, with all the incongruity that entails.
And that’s really what the film is about. Oh, there’s a plot about the Bradys losing their home, but it’s all secondary to watching the sanitized, 1970s Bradys making their way through the world of grunge music and Bill Clinton.
The jokes are mostly obvious, involving the Bradys, clueless to their differences, contrasted against the more cynical “normal” people. There are many instances of scenes being reshot just like in the original show, but played to extremes, such as Marsha being hit in the nose and not just getting a bruise, but her entire nose squashed out of shape. It’s solid, but hardly inspired stuff.
Where the film comes into its glory is in the casting. Shelley Long does a great job recreating Florence Henderson’s Carol, using the same three or four expressions to great edffect. The kids are just as good, with particular notice to Christopher Daniel Barnes as Greg and Christine Taylor as a positively radiant Marcia. Paul Sutera (Peter) and Jennifer Elise Cox (Jan) also get some great moments, but don’t get the same level of focus. Continuing down the age scale, Olivia Hack (Cindy) and Jesse Lee Soffer (Bobby) get even less to do, but still do stellar work.
But the greatest recreated performance of them all comes from the genius Gary Cole. * He doesn’t just recreated the peformance of Robert Reed, he channels the very spirit of Mike Brady, despite Mike being a fictional character. Every look, every move, every word that he utters *is* Mike Brady. It’s one of the most memorable performances I have ever seen. That it is in a movie as silly as this one, just underlines Cole’s devotion to the craft.
I really liked The Brady Bunch Movie. It is able to balance on a very thin line between having fun with something and making fun of it. Although there are plenty of jabs at the original show, one gets the sense that they are all in good-natured fun, not a mean attack (like much of, say, Scooby-Doo). The appearance of so many original cast members in cameos (including Florence Henderson, Christopher Knight, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams and even Davy Jones) also points to this. I doubt they would have participated if it was mocking. As it is, though, it is one of the more original takes on the whole small-to-big-screen translation thing and one the better ones.
* Yes, he is always to be known as “the genius Gary Cole”. His work in this film, combined with Office Work, led me to dub him “the genius Gary Cole” and “the genius Gary Cole” he shall remain.