Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Lee Eisenberg This environmentally-themed black comedy seems newly relevant due to the accelerated deforestation in the Amazon as well what has been described as a nuclear renaissance. A lot of "Meet the Applegates" (alternately called "The Applegates") is just straightforward comedy, with the insect family trying to behave like a "typical American family" in the suburbs. By extension it shows that the "all-American lifestyle" is a facade, as the family members succumb to addictions. Ed Begley Jr, Stockard Channing, Dabney Coleman and Glenn Shadix (Otho in "Beetlejuice") make the most of their roles. No, it's not the funniest movie ever, but it's got some funny stuff mixed in with the ecological message.

CountryJim How is it that otherwise good actors allow themselves to take part in a banal script like this? Characters are unidimensional (well 1.5 dimensional at best). I can see how it would appeal to average and undemanding movie viewers (that is to say the statistical 50% mark of sophistication).It had a lot of "zany, wacky, goofy, madcap, off-the-wall, weird" antics. Not funny, just antics and very predictable. I think I chuckled once at Dabney and once at Stockard - a testament to their abilities to at least rescue a moment here and there.If you have a very undemanding and unsophisticated sense of humor, you will like find it quite amusing with its zany, wacky, goofy, madcap, off-the-wall, weird antics. But if you have a mental age of over 14, you will likely get bored. But movies like this are valuable to watch. They are so juvenile and bland, that they remind one what a good movie is when you see one. But not this one.

badcat-1 Keyword reference for this film indicates scenes of interracial sex.There were no scenes of interracial sex - barely scenes of interracial interaction (other than the law enforcement official that meets a slimy end -- no sex, though).Did I miss something?In fact, the sex scenes are not much to worry about -- the daughter's romp is not the least bit erotic, or funny -- for that matter. This movie was supposed to be funny, and I suppose there were enough scenes of purely outrageous content that generate a grin. Gut busting laughter? No.

Pepper Anne Heather's director, Michael Lehmann, who directs and co-writes this amusing satire about environmental awareness. A family of cockroaches living in some tropical country are disgusted with humans destroying their habitat, but they have a plan to put an end to their carelessness. Because cockroaches will be the only things to survive a nuclear disaster, this family of cockroaches will disguise themselves as the statistically average all-American family (so as not to draw any suspicions). Head of the household, Richard Applegate (Ed Beagly, Jr.), a suave engineer, will pose as a worker at the local nuclear power plant, and then use his privileged access to figure out the layout of the plant and the key eliminating the human race, and pretty much every other living and non-living thing.However, their plan starts to fall apart when the perfect all-American storybook Applegate gradually turns into a seriously dysfunctional family. Jane Applegate (Stockard Channing), after being introduced to shopping by a neighbor, goes on an endless spending spree, finding fulfillment in useless material possessions. Sally Applegate (Camille Cooper) is raped by an obnoxious jock, also a neighbor, impregnating her with a cockroach baby. She swears off men and becomes a bitter lesbian. This also rouses the suspicions of the neighborhood because one the Applegate family goes dysfunctional, people start winding up dead. Like the twin heavy metal dope-head brothers, Kevin and Kenny, who likewise turn young Billy Applegate (Bobby Jacoby) into a burned out dope-head. And Richard Applegate, becomes uninterested in wife, and starts fooling around with the secretary. So the movie remarks on much more than environmental concerns, although that is the underlying purpose of it all. Dabney Coleman is pretty funny in this movie with his small role as "Aunt Bea," the queen of the cockroach clan. And 'Heathers' fans will recognize Glenn Shadix, who played the Reverend at all the Heathers funerals. He plays pest control specialist, Greg Samson here.This kind of movie is really an acquired taste, and is a much different satire than Lehmann offers in 'The Heathers.' It is certainly a wild satire--cockroaches disguised as the perfect human beings? And the question in the end is, is global nuclear destruction really necessary for humans to appreciate cockroaches, or hell, to quit destroying species in general? It is a bizarre story, but there is political significance nonetheless. The movie, too, may go overboard with some things such as the young Applegate daughter being raped by the horny jock, turning her into a lesbian. But part of the humor is the fact that the family, once so achingly average, soon becomes so achingly dysfunctional. Discovering that their cockroaches is the least of their concerns at that point.