FUN WITH DICK AND JANE

I think the biggest problem with Fun With Dick and Jane is that, to be honest, it’s not really any fun.

Oh sure, the filmmakers would like you believe it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys on crack, and they throw in several sequences that involve nothing more than Jim Carrey mugging for the camera as if to drive home their point, but it ultimately feels uninspired and kind of boring.

Carrey stars as Dick Harper, the newly appointed VP of Communications at nondescript megacorporation Globodyne – which, coincidentally enough, is about two seconds from going under as a result of nefarious financial shenanigans on the part of its sleazy CEO, Jack McAllister (Alec Baldwin, phoning in the same unscrupulous-but-charming multimillionaire he’s played before, most recently in Elizabethtown). McAllister high-tails it outta town and outta business, leaving a company in ruin, countless employees jobless and Dick with one helluva a problem on his hands. It doesn’t help matters that his wife, Jane (Téa Leoni), just quit her travel-agent job as a result of Dick’s fancy-pants promotion, or that the Harpers are in the process of adding all kinds of accoutrements to their big, suburban home, or that – for some inexplicable reason – they desperately want to create the illusion of wealth for their snooty neighbors. What’s a cash-strapped couple to do?

Resort to robbing banks, that’s what, and the duo’s misguided Bonnie and Clyde routine provides much of the meat of the film. See Dick and Jane buy disguises! See Dick and Jane bungle hold-ups! See Dick and Jane enjoy the spoils of the illegal activities! See the audience yawn…especially when the movie tries to get all earnest and self-important by posing as some kind of “Stick it to The Man!” love letter to the corporately screwed of America. (The similarly themed pop-culture references inserted to elicit wry grins from the audience also feel forced and out of place.)

Unfortunately, Fun With Dick and Jane falls flat. Carrey rests on his comedic laurels to some extent, resorting to the same schtick we’ve seen him do (and do much better) in other films, and that undercuts some of his character’s heart. Leoni is an underrated comedic actress and she’s actually the better of the two leads here, delivering a stronger and, in my opinion, funnier performance than that of her co-star. Supporting players get the shaft, most of all Angie Harmon in a completely useless glorified cameo that affords her about two lines of dialogue. And, as mentioned, Alec Baldwin treads on familiar territory – though, to be fair, his McAllister is a rather entertaining fellow.

I think there were four or five writers credited with the screenplay at the outset of the film, and it shows. Fun With Dick and Jane is a mish-mash of intent and execution, and audiences would be much better served renting the George Segal/Jane Fonda original…which, coincidentally enough, has just been released on DVD.