by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 20, 2008

"The Brady Bunch Movie" recreated the TV family from the 1970s sitcom - but only to make fun of them. Somehow the characters have all magically retained their 1970s personalities - but unfortunately, they're living in a 90s world.

It's a good premise, providing lots of unexpected and funny gags, especially for viewers who remember the original TV show. Michael McKean plays a real estate developer, frustrated that he can't get the family to sell their homes to clear the way for his expensive real estate plan. This family is strange, he insists. They're not like other families in the 1990s. "What's their story?" he says into his cellphone. And the movie answers by re-creating the TV show's opening theme. ("Here's a story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls...") And when the Brady's are happy, they celebrate by singing and dancing through their local mall. Of course they're singing "It's a Sunshine Day," an oddly cheerful song from one of the original TV episodes - complete with its original choreography.

The Brady's are misplaced in other ways. The oldest son, Greg, still thinks he can impress the girls at his high school using cheesy pickup lines from the 1970s. ("Hey there, groovy chick. You're happening in a far-out kind of way...") His sister Marcia Brady has no idea why her high school classmate Noreen is so attracted to her, and remains blissfully unaware of Noreen's same-sex crush all the way through their senior prom. (And Marcia also makes it clear that she has no interest in making out with her date.)

The movie includes several good shout-outs to the original show. Watch for a cameo by Christopher Knight, the original Peter Brady, who appears as a basketball coach at the high school to stop two students from bulling the movie's version of Peter. And the movie suggests the original Greg Brady ultimately did enter the music industry, since he appears in a scene where he's approached with a new song - by the movie's version of Greg. There's also cameos by Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis (who played Alice, their maid). It's lots of fun for fans of the original show. Popular culture has changed a lot in the last twenty years - but the movie finds a way to make it funny.

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