Braqueurs amateurs

I have never seen the original FUN WITH DICK AND JANE (with George Segal and Jane Fonda) so I can't do many comparisons with this remake. However I saw it since Jim Carrey always had been one of my favourite actors of all time (both in comedy and drama) and I was also shocked at the score of 6,1 since I had a fine time watching it.

Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) and his wife Jane (Tea Leoni) are married, with a child and they seem to have a perfect life. However, after a series of scams they lose their own jobs, their lives change drastically. At first they are in crisis and desperate in their search for new jobs. But after a while they discover that stealing things from the richer ones is kinda funny and they turn into a life of crime without ever being captured.

Having never seen the original I can't understand why many people are negative towards this movie. Perhaps is because this remake at times is a bit heavy handed (and I can understand that) but I am sure that also the original was a bit depressing especially when Dick and Jane lost their jobs. The leads (Carrey and Leoni) are in top form and they have lots of chemistry together. Also Alec Baldwin is very hilarious at times in his supporting role.

However what I should say more? Just turn off your brain and enjoy this comedy for what it is even if you, like me, never saw the 1977 original.

Have we lost our humor in America? This is a very funny movie. In many ways it's a dark comedy with a happy ending. But it moves quickly, is a parody on timely issues and has some of the best physical acting you'll ever see.

Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni work very well together. And while the 1977 original had two of my favorite people (whacko politics aside for Jane Fonda because she was a hoot in Barbarella), I think this version was more light hearted and more up to date.

I have a strange feeling that younger people didn't understand the concept, 20-30's thought it implausible for them and people above were frightened by its premise.

7 out of 10 for an entertaining time.

Jim Carrey has come a long way since his early days on In Living Color. He became a hit actor in the likes of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (a personal childhood favourite), The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. He tried hard for an Oscar nom, but always contended with winning Golden Globes. And for years now, he has basically been bouncing around dramas, comedies, and dramedies. So now, he has tackled a remake (of a comedy no less), and the results as per the last few years, are mixed at best.

Carrey is Dick, an employee at Globodyne (read: Enron) who is promoted just in time to help sail the company into oblivion on television. He tells his wife Jane (Tea Leoni) to leave her job only hours before hand, and upon returning stunning home, realizes that he may be in a bit of trouble. As the months go on, the pair's assets slowly begin to dwindle, and hope for continued survival begins to evaporate. So with nothing left to do, they turn to life of petty crime and hope for the best.

It is not an original concept at all, but Carrey and Leoni do a valiant job keeping this boat floating. While the film does have a few hilarious moments, the rest of it is bogged down by mere snicker-filled sequences or just scenes that are totally unfunny. It's not like these two actors are having any trouble being funny, it's that the material is not funny. Judd Apatow did wonders with The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but he fumbles here pretty hard with his writing partner Nicholas Stoller, who does not have nearly enough credits to his name. A parody on what happened at Enron was inevitable, but this just seems lackluster and barely thought out. Subplots are brought in, but barely resolved, and the key storyline just feels very weak by the end. It's not terrible, it just feels a tad bit incomplete.

The sorry thing about the entire film is the fact that much of it just feels like an extended montage with little payoff. It is only ninety minutes long, so it feels like a lot was trimmed down or cut right out. But the film suffers as a result. If it was longer, it undoubtedly could have had more potential for more funny moments, and as a whole, feel more complete.

While Carrey and Leoni do their best, it's Leoni who gives a stronger performance. Yes, Carrey is right at home with his zany character, and totally overshadows Leoni in every single aspect. But he just lacks that integral element of human comedy here, that made him so famous in the first place. It's unfortunate, and makes me wonder if the old Carrey will ever return, or if we'll have to contend with semi-funny Carrey for the rest of his career. Leoni is much better, and feels more in tune with what she's doing.

Even more unfortunate is the wasted supporting cast does very little. Alec Baldwin as the sleazy CEO Jack McCallister is sparingly unfunny, as is Richard Jenkins as the right hand man Frank Bascombe, who spends most of the movie drunk and not doing anything (besides setting up for the finale). The rest of the cast has little to no screen time, or are simply silly supporting characters that just feel like excess waste in the entire scheme of things.

For all of it's faults, the film is a worth while watch. As said, I did laugh at some of it. A bit of work on the screenplay would have benefited everyone here. Just do not go in expecting a comedy classic with Jim Carrey. If so, you will be sadly disappointed.

6.5/10.

Dick and Jane (Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni) were the very couple most people think about when they think "American." They were white, working, married with one kid, a dog, a BMW, and a house in the suburbs. Even their names were all-American. All they were missing was a picket fence. Their cookie cutter world came crashing down around them when Jane quit her job and Dick's company, Globodyne, went belly up. They were reduced to selling all of their worldly possessions, they even had to pay their child's nanny in small appliances.

When the bank came after their house, they drew a line in the sand. They would liquidate no more. It was time to get criminal.

"Fun with Dick and Jane" was plenty funny. I never knew the word "indicted" could be so hilarious. I suppose that's what happens when a failing company slaps a VP label on a guy and puts him in front of a television audience to field questions about a bogus earnings report. Jim Carrey was gold and Tea Leoni held her own. It was definitely fun with Dick and Jane.

Jim Carrey is hard to beat in a role like this. He looks like the all American yuppie - tall, clean shaven, well dressed, and in control of his life - and his comedic delivery has been refined into a polished riff. All is believable when he lets loose because you know this is a guy who has a great sense of humor and he can get you to laugh until you lose your breath without grossing you out or making you groan at absurd silliness. Even while prancing or jabbing the air or contorting his face, Carrey is - hands down - the sexiest comedian on screen today. Tea Leoni is a good match for him because she too can be sexy while doing pratfalls or ending up with mud on her face. This is a dream coupling that should be repeated in more light comedies the way William Powell & Myrna Loy were paired in The Thin Man series.

I found this remake head and shoulders above the original because it had far more energy and there was more 'sympatico' in the match of personalities of Dick & Jane. The new version also has a much more important message about corporate shenanigans and its grave impact on modern society. The film moves at a quick pace and was too short for me, but that's only because I didn't want to leave these characters. They became that fun couple you always invite to your get-togethers because they are the life of every party.