Brady Bunch Movie, The (1995)

In the 1990s, Hollywood studios desperately ransacked their old TV archives for cinema remake material, with very mixed results. This is probably the most innovative of the lot, even if it doesn’t always work.

For those who missed them the first time around, The Brady Bunch featured a cute-as-pie 1970s American family who suffered the mildest of domestic discord every week.

For this movie, the same applies – except that the family is trapped in a 1970s time warp, and everyone else is now living in the 1990s, the community is crumbling, and the crime rate is spiralling out of control.

The result is a postmodernist hoot, expertly served up by a cast headed by Shelley Long (as Carol Brady) and Gary Cole (as her husband, Mike), and essential viewing for fans of flares everywhere.

Marcia (Christine Taylor) is a self-centred, conceited overachiever; Jan (Jennifer Elise Cox) is the middle child, whose life is consumed by being in Marcia’s shadow, though she spends a lot of time trying to develop her own image; and youngest daughter Cindy (Olivia Hack), spends most of her time battling a demon inside herself telling her to tattle on others. She is cute and talks with a lisp.

Eldest brother Greg (Christopher Daniel Barnes) is a dork who thinks he is a real ladies’ man (though most chicks find his cheesy ’70s come-on lines a bit outdated); middle son Peter (Paul Sutera) is going through puberty and has a squeaky voice; while little Bobby (Jason Lee) constantly fights with Cindy.

The family is completed with Alice (Henriette Mantel), the ever-reliable, motherly, and hilariously funny housekeeper.

The plot centres around the Bradys’ neighbour, Larry Ditmeyer (Michael McKean) – an unscrupulous real estate developer who wants to open a mini mall in the Bradys’ neighbourhood. The rest of the neighbours have agreed to sell their houses, but the Bradys are quite emphatic about not selling theirs.

Mrs Ditmeyer (Jean Smart), meanwhile, spends all her time recovering from hangovers and trying to seduce those growing Brady boys.

Unfortunately, the family receives a tax delinquency notice stating that they face foreclosure on their house if they do not pay $20,000.

On the night before the Bradys have to move out, Marcia suggests they enter a “Search for the Stars” talent contest, offering a $20,000 prize. The kids’ dated performance receives a poor audience response, but the judges – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork of The Monkees – vote for them, and they win the contest.

The tax bill is paid, and their neighbours withdraw their homes from the market, foiling Larry’s plan and securing the neighbourhood.

A few of the original cast from the original Brady Bunch TV series appear in cameo roles, with Florence Henderson as Grandma Brady, Ann B Davis as a truck driver named Schultzy, Barry Williams as a record producer, and Christopher Knight as a coach at the school.

Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen also made small cameo appearances, but their scenes were cut before the film was released.

The film opened at #1 at the US box office with $14.8 million in its opening four-day weekend and went on to gross $46.6 million in the US and Canada. A sequel (titled A Very Brady Sequel) was released in August 1996, and a made-for-television film titled The Brady Bunch in the White House was aired on 29 November 2002.

Carol Brady
Shelley Long
Mike Brady
Gary Cole
Greg Brady
Christopher Daniel Barnes
Marcia Brady
Christine Taylor
Peter Brady
Paul Sutera
Jan Brady
Jennifer Elise Cox
Bobby Brady
Jesse Lee
Cindy Brady
Olivia Hack
Alice Nelson
Henriette Mantel
Mr Larry Dittmeyer
Michael McKean
Mrs Dena Dittmeyer
Jean Smart
Eric Dittmeyer
Jack Noseworthy
Sam Franklin
David Graf
Grandma Brady
Florence Henderson
Trucker (Schultzy)
Ann B. Davis
Music Producer
Barry Williams

Director
Betty Thomas

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