Fun With Dick And Jane [DVD]

With Fun With Dick and Jane certainly isn't going to set the world on fire, and it's penchant for placing slapstick over hard edged satire can be quite annoying, yet the movie remains somewhat cute and funny and silly, and it's 85 minute running time ensures that it doesn't wear out it's welcome. The critics ravaged this film when it came out last year, and in truth there are parts of it that are sloppily directed, and don't quite work, but it's really not that bad - fans of Tea Leoni and Jim Carrey will probably enjoy it.

Fun with Dick and Jane follows the travails of Dick and Jane Harper. Dick is a well-off executive, a bit jealous of a neighbor's special-order Mercedes but otherwise happily married to his travel agent wife and pleased to be the father of 6-year-old Billy. They're a kind-hearted off-beat and goofy couple, who are proud of their achievements, particularly when Dick ends up being promoted to vice president of communications at the corporate giant Globodyne.

While Dick sucks up to the Chief Financial Officer Frank Bascombe (Richard Jenkins) and the company's legendary chief executive, Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin), Jane decides to quit her job on the strength of Dick's promotion. But his situation is a set-up. He's being made the company fall guy, tapped to announce Globodyne's quarterly projections as the company goes up in smoke. Suddenly he's out of a job and finds it next to impossible to get a new one.

Things start to get desperate as Dick and Jane go from shopping for a hot tub to working at the local box store and volunteering for product testing. They eventually end up pulling robberies at convenience stores with their son's squirt gun to make ends meet. It's a quick fall for the couple, to be sure, but the earlier scenes are more amusing than Dick and Jane pulling robberies. Their crime spree lasts about 10 screen minutes, until they decide to swindle Dick's ex-boss.

Fun with Dick and Jane makes no apologies about it's send up of the Enron scandal and the film, as a whole, gets a lot of mileage out of being set in our current age of corporate excess. Disgraced executives at places like Enron and Tyco are given prominent "special thanks" in the closing credits. But this propensity towards politically correct satire works in fits and starts. The third act is perhaps the strongest with a silly revenge plot that allows Carry and Leoni to exploit their natural rapport and comic timing to great effect.

The script is of this movie is the real problem - it isn't nearly as acerbic and biting as it should be and it lacks real sting. Sure, we get send-ups of Ken Lay, George W. Bush and corporate greed, but the lines lack punch. Most of the energy is put into dumb action, generating intermittent laughs.

There's no doubt Carrey and Leoni get the physical comedy right and they also convey the required chemistry for a couple that once scheduled dates for sex and now find lawlessness a spontaneous turn-on. But mostly they're asked to flail around in over-the-top "funny" acts. While the premise is as timely as ever and the two leads instantly likable, Fun With Dick and Jane just lacks the clout to make it a truly memorable social satire. Mike Leonard April 06.

Meet Dick Harper (Jim Carrey). He's an employee of a mega corporation on his way up the corporate ladder.

Meet Jane Harper (Tea Leoni). She works at a travel agency to support their middle class lifestyle.

Together, the Harpers have a new house in the suburbs, a son named Billy, a dog named Spot (of course), and a servant named Blanca.

In 2000, Dick's big promotion finally comes. He's now the VP of Communications for his company. He encourages Jane to quit her job to stay home with Billy, an idea she loves.

On his first day in his new position, he goes on a cable outlet to counter the bad news in the media about his company. While he announces to the world that everything is fine, the FCC announces a full-scale investigation and stock prices plummets.

Dick's initial reaction is to not worry. After all, they've got savings. Certainly he can get a new job in a couple months. But as the months go by, nothing happens. All of Dick's former co-workers are also trying to get the limited number of jobs in the area. Dick's desperate attempts to get any kind of job only lead to failure. Finally, out of desperation, Dick and Jane turn to crime. But when they have a chance to get revenge on Dick's former boss (Alec Baldwin), can they pull it off?

I was interested in seeing this movie for one reason and one reason alone - they filmed a scene about half a mile from my house. I'm not a Jim Carrey fan, so I was expecting to hate the movie. Plus I didn't like the sounds of the plot. When I got a chance to attend a test screening the end of October, I jumped. I figured this was a way to see the movie without wasting money. I enjoyed every minute of it.

In spite of how the plot sounds, this really is a comedy. Maybe because I don't think that way, I've never been able to understand how a black comedy works. All I know is, this one does. The humor seems to come from the absurd. What is happening on the screen is so absurd it really is funny. The scene shown in the trailer where they are asking if the muffins are low fat before taking them is a perfect example. Even while the comedy is coming from absurdity, it is grounded in reality. The likelihood of these events happening to these people is slim to none, but you believe it could happen when watching the movie.

Of course, being a Jim Carrey movie, there is physical comedy as well. The scene of him racing other applicants to a job interview comes to mind. He does an amazing job in one scene being a puppet with invisible strings.

A big thing that helps the movie is the characters. They truly are likable. Even when they start breaking the law, you can't help but root for them to win. Mr. Carrey and Ms. Leoni deserve lots of credit for bring these characters to life with such skill.

Also, as I've hinted at before, the story holds together well. The writers take time making the situations believable. Because of that, the story takes time getting where we know the movie is going, but you truly need that time to understand why Dick and Jane turn to a life of crime.

Not that the movie drags at all. It starts out strong and keeps moving from one funny situation to another until the ending, which I absolutely loved.

I have recently found out this movie is a remake of a 1977 movie with the same title and plot starring George Segal and Jane Fonda in the title rolls. Since I haven't seen that movie, I can't compare the two. What I can tell you is this movie seemed fresh and funny to me.

Since what I saw was a test screening, things can change. Frankly, I don't see how they can make the movie any better. Based on what I saw, this is a winner and I will certainly pay money to see it again.

This movie turns out to raise a few chuckles, and make you wince at a few scenes of familiarity when couple go through hard time financially -and makes you feel satisfied the bad guy gets his come uppance. Does that not make it a success? Well, yes and no -for the material and the participants could and should have made it much more. The original was not a softie movie, it was bitingly satirical, and this movie could have been too.

Likewise, while Tea Leoni is as good as always, Carrey over eggs the pudding a little - someone playing the role straighter would have got more laughs. This is, after all, funny only when we can see something we can relate to. Having said that, he still has his physical comedy touch and can fall around funnier than anyone else - this just should have been a better movie than that.

Kudos should go to Richard Jenkins (Who plays the deceased father in the tv show 'Six Feet Under'), as the former executive who both contributes to our couples initial downfall and helps them on their subsequent redemption.

All in all, this is a success as a forgettable comedy to while away a quick one and a half hours - it made me laugh. If you are looking for a little more satire or anything deeper, then look elsewhere.