AmateurMovieReviews.com

I'll be the first to admit it: most movie remakes of old television series' fall flat. But, being a huge fan of the sappy old 1970's TV series "The Brady Bunch", I was willing to take the risk when the big screen feature came out over a decade ago.

"The Brady Bunch" movie is hilarious. At least I think so. The movie is set in the mid-1990's, but the Brady's are still living and dressing like it's the 1970's. They wear 70's clothes and "dig" 70's things. They say words like "groovy" and "far out" and are just out and out corny.

The casting for this movie was perfect. Gary Cole and Shelly Long play Mike and Carol Brady. Long has mastered the two-syllable "Mike" that Florence Henderson was known for.

Christine Taylor (now also known as the wife of actor Ben Stiller) looks like she was cloned from the original Marcia Brady, Maureen McCormick. Michael McKean (Lenny from "Laverne and Shirley) does great as the evil next door neighbor, Larry Dittmeyer. And there are several cameos from original Brady Bunch cast members-- Barry Williams, Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis all make appearances in this movie.

As a fan of the original Brady Bunch, I don't think they could have done any better with this movie. I laugh out loud every time I watch it. When Marcia tries to get Davey Jones to sing at the school dance, he resurrects his old song "Girl", but the band add a 90's grunge feel to the backup.

Jack Noseworthy does great as the bad boy next door Eric Dittmeyer, who lives to torment squirrelly Peter Brady. I love Jack and I was totally excited to see him in this movie!

Many of the "classic" Brady Bunch moments are featured in this movie. It is obvious that the writers of this film were either Brady Bunch fans or did a ton of research on the series. Marcia getting hit in the face with a football, the kids singing on a TV talent show, Bobby acting like a safety monitor and barking codes and regulations at everyone, Jan hating her glasses and being completely jealous of older sister Marcia-- it's all in there!

The basic premise of the movie is this: Next door neighbor Dittmeyer wants the whole block to sell their homes for a huge profit, so a builder can take over the land. The Brady's refuse to sell. When Dittmeyer find out the Brady's owe a huge tax bill, he does what he can to sabotage their paying it. In the end, the Brady kids join together to get the money to pay the tax bill and the Brady house is saved.

But along the way we're treated to tons of 1970's (and 1990's) cliches, as well as a bunch of the memorable characters from the original TV series. Doug Simspon, "the big man on campus" is the boy that Marcia wants to date-- but he's even more of a creep in the 90's! And the old TV group The Monkees even make a quick cameo appearance.

And then there's those Brady's. Jan Brady, trying to change her image, goes to the school counselor who's expecting to hear her problem with teen pregnancy or bulimia. Instead, Jan's lamenting over her stupid glasses! And as a side note, the counselor is played by Ru Paul. Peter Brady talks in a cracking voice-- until he sticks up to Eric Dittemyer and then his voice changes to a deep, manly voice. And Cindy, that annoying youngest Brady child, is ultra-annoying in this movie. With her constant lisping and her braided hair, Next door neighbor Dittmeyer tells her to "hop back on the Swiss Miss package where she came from".

Keep your eyes and ears open during the movie because there are tons of visual gags and double-entendre jokes.

I think as far as remakes goes, this is one of the funniest ones out there. While not trying to pretend to be the original series, this movie instead makes fun of it-- but in a kind, gentle way. Because let's face it-- any one who knows the series knows it was syrupy and sappy and not a bit realistic. Still, we're nostalgic for it. "The Brady Bunch" movie takes us back there while still keeping up with modern times. And truthfully, that's the best way to present a movie such as this.