Movie Review

Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane stars Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni as a married couple who turn to crime as a way to pay the bills. Carrey stars as Dick Harper, a businessman who loses his job, and he and his wife Jane (Leoni) have been jealous of their cocky next door neighbors? success; they shove everything in their face. To rise up to that image, Dick and Jane devise a plan to rip off stores for income. The title Fun with Dick and Jane makes you think we are going to have a blast watching this couple rebel, and the title?s strange considering how little ?fun? there is to be had in this movie. If there was anything that could sink Carrey?s career right now, here it is. Watching Dick and Jane is like being on the Titanic: you?re looking for a way out as you keep sinking deeper and deeper, and you?re astonished at how someone could let such a thing happen.

Fun with Dick and Jane is the kind of movie you watch and scratch your head the entire time: Just what were these actors thinking? Did they honestly see something within this script? The odd part is that Jim Carrey actually produced this flick with big timer Brian Grazer, suggesting that it might have been personal to him ? why, I have no idea. The other surprising thing is that Judd Apatow, who directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin (B) ? a surprisingly intelligent and very funny comedy, co-wrote the feature; how he can go from that to this is a mystery. This movie was even directed by Dean Parisot, who did the surprisingly enjoyable Galaxy Quest (B-). The script for Dick and Jane is terrible, and the direction is not much better (with extremely low key scenes and a schmaltzy straight-to-video/cable tone). Carrey is stuck limping with acts of comedy that are bottom of the barrel sitcom material, and Tea Leoni gives one of the worst performances of her career; she is truly cringe inducing.

One of the signs that this movie has no selling points beyond the stars? names can be found by watching the trailer: If you notice, the mini-mart robbery and ATM machine bits are the supposed ?money moments,? and there is nothing else to those scenes that the ad isn?t showing. Those sequences represent the tone of the movie: it is terribly stupid, weightless material.

The Majestic (C+/B-) was a big dip in the road for Carrey, as it was a drama about a movie theater ? a story that would clearly have limited appeal (but when the director of Shawshank Redemption comes a knocking, who's going to say no?). Dick and Jane could end being a repeat of that flick at the box office; Ben Affleck sunk himself with Surviving Christmas (C-/C) and this in that league, and could be best described as Jim Carrey?s Envy (C-). Why Ben Stiller and Jack Black signed onto that piece of crap (no pun intended) is beyond words, and many moviegoers will be asking the same thing about Carrey here. Dick and Jane has more of a commercial story in comparison to Majestic, but the gags are likely to only entertain the absolute easiest to please.

I really have nothing good to say about this movie, but the fact that Jim Carrey is in it is probably the reason I?m not giving it a D+. With any other comedian this would be walkout material, even though it kind of is even so ? there is really not much that happens in this movie (kind of like Dukes of Hazzard). The story could?ve been ?fun? had anything actually happened, but it still comes down to the writing, and many of the moments led to my jaw dropping in awe ? I couldn't believe that anyone would think this material is even decent.

The feature absolutely wastes the talent of someone who used to be very funny, and further suggests that Carrey might have lost his edge as many aging comedians have over time. Carrey represents the fear that Adam Sandler might have in being that guy who is strictly of the past (they're both around 40 now too). Ace Ventura (B) and Dumb & Dumber (B), his cream of the crop in the genre, came out in 1994 ? eleven years ago, even though Me Myself & Irene (B) was also a solid entry (while his recent genre entries, Lemony Snicket and Bruce Almighty, were mediocre). Here?s hoping Carrey bounces back in the comedy department, as Dick and Jane is one ridiculous career move.

Lee's Grade: C-
Ranked #72 of 122 between Tower Heist (#71) and Grown Ups (#73) for 2005 movies.

A	0.4%
B	30.0%
C	61.7%
D	8.0%
F	0.0%