A Very Brady Sequel -

Take the original Brady Bunch movie, eliminate the originality and cohesiveness, and string the remnants along a rather flimsy plotline, and you’ve got A Very Brady Sequel, a tired rehash of a film that wasn’t all that great to begin with. The familiar Brady clan is back, including Shelley Long as Carol and Gary Cole as Mike. The entire central cast has returned, and considering the short time it took from the original film to its sequel, they most likely never took down the original sets. The only new element in this film is the addition of Roy (Tim Matheson), Carol’s first husband. Apparently, he was an archeologist thought lost at sea. Yet Roy has returned for more than just Carol, he is looking for a very rare statue that just happens to reside at the Brady residence. As in the original film, the Bradys are frozen in the carefree 70s while the world around them passes by in the cruel 90s. However, the earlier film seems to have sucked all the juice out of that satiric view, and the new film focuses mostly on the Brady clan, with the evil Roy to provide the only contrast with reality. Unlike the previous film, which juxtaposed several plots from the old tv show. The new film is content to sample in smaller bites, tossing away quick lines and references to situations from the show, but never approaching anything near plot. By the time the Bradys reach Hawaii (prominently featured in all the ads, but not the movie), they seem to have run out of ideas and stoop to borrowing from other kitschy old sitcoms. Nowhere in this entire film does anything approach the level of funny. It seems as if it is time to retire the Bradys once and for all. If you digged the original, stay home and rent it. A Very Brady Sequel isn’t worth your time.