livinghere-99749
Giving a 10 for balance. Realistically I'd give a 7. It's pretty silly and light, but very tight, and knows what it is. All the characters have a simple, fun and direct journey. All the little plot elements (and there are more than the average amount) fit into the logic of the movie and work, whilst being paced well. Constantly entertaining and humorous dialogue. Very cartoon like characters. Very good entertainment for those who can just accept these types of movies.
SnoopyStyle
The Applegates (Ed Begley Jr, Stockard Channing) are a peculiar suburban family. They live under assumed identities to infiltrate and sabotage the nuclear power plant. They are actually giant preying mantis from the Brazilian rainforest which is being stripped by development. Their queen, Aunt Bea (Dabney Coleman), is invading Ohio in three months. The daughter Sally falls for Vince Sampson from next door. When Vince forces himself on her, she goes mantis on him. The suburbs are harder than it seems. Sally gets pregnant. Johnny turns into a weed head. Jane goes crazy with her Discovery card. Richard gets fired. Then Aunt Bea arrives.I wouldn't say that there are any big laughs. It does have a weird dark satirical take on the suburbs. There is also an environmental message. This all adds up to an unseen cult movie. It has some fun takes. Michael Lehmann directed one of the great teen satires of all times, Heathers. This is way weirder.
tdrish
Meet The Applegates doesn't meet much intelligence, however, it is a fun movie to watch if you just want to watch, and not think. This is not a thinking movie, unless you are thinking "What were they thinking?" while you're watching this. This movie is weird, even to my standards. The whole idea of preying mantis going incognito as humans is disturbing enough. Ed Begley Jr, in spite of it all, actually makes this all worth watching, and I'm really shocked to be admitting this, but there is almost literally nothing else to see here. The ending just got a little too ridiculous for me. I want to warn you, even though Meet The Applegates is in general a comedy, there are a few yucky scenes ( I won't spoil any of them for you, that would spoil the fun...and that's all I can see that this movie was made. For fun!) So get your giant can of RAID ready, sit back, and enjoy meeting the Applegates.
Robert D. Ruplenas
This flick is not available on Netflix nor on Amazon streaming, and I don't know why, because it is truly hilarious. The negative comments here are incomprehensible to me. The comic premise of giant bugs disguising themselves as humans is no more difficult to accept here than it was in "Men in Black," except this is a much better movie. The predictable left wing environmental theme is here, but is by no means overpowering enough to detract from the riotously funny look at middle class suburban life, with all its pretensions, facades, commercialism, and sexual foibles that this movie supplies. All the cast do their jobs wonderfully, Stockard Channing and Ed Begley Jr. in particular. Dabney Coleman does a great job in what could be called a cameo role. The script is just wonderful. I was able to catch this on one of the cable channels and I'm glad I was able to do so. It provided a wonderful hour and a half of comedic entertainment.
AD
