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Fun with Dick and Jane
limps along from one lacklustre incident to another,
Hollywood excels in remakes and that is ever since those famous Studio days. The latest instances being King Kong, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Longest Yard. The latest is the 1977 formulaic comedy Fun With Dick and Jane, in which a married couple, down on their luck, has to turn to crime to support their cushy lifestyle. But with Jim Carrey in the driver’s seat, not everyone will be optimistic about the outcome. Tea Leoni is in a supporting role but they are never in the same league as George Segal and Jane Fonda. But Carrey can’t be blamed for want of trying as so many of his fans will vouch for. Dick Harper (Carrey) is a hotshot corporate executive who has just landed his dream promotion to Vice-President of the company. His wife Jane (Leoni) is the big spender. So when their company is riddled in scandal, it is downhill racer for them. The reference to Enron seems topical and as the couple gets down on their bank robberies, it is only a wee bit of fun. Not Bonny and Clyde. Not even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid either. The robbery of a department store where they walk away with the ice-cream is probably the most funny part of the film. But Carrey and Leoni limp along from one lacklustre incident to another. Alec Baldwin, hiding behind a beard, wastes a good deal of his time (and ours) trying to look credible as the villain. Director Dean Parisot gives them all a free hand it seems and Carrey falls over himself in his Jerry Lewis-like stunts and Leoni is neither here nor there. Even 90-odd minutes seem ever so long as he bumbles along unsuccessfully. Peter Sellers also bumbled along but quite successfully. So much after everyone has had enough (except his fans, of course), the curtain comes down, thankfully. Well worth a miss. |
