Plot summary (from the studio): When Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) is terminated as Globodyne Corporation’s VP of Communications, he assures his wife, Jane (Téa Leoni), he’ll find another job in no time. Months later, their lawn is repossessed, Jane has sold her body to science, and Dick’s career as a day laborer ends with his deportation to Mexico. Madder than ever and not going to take it anymore, Dick and Jane turn to the fastest-growing sector in the white-collar job market — armed robbery — as they become upscale suburban Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor…namely themselves.
Warning: Spoilers below!
Liked:
- This film definitely had some good lines and a few LOL moments along the way, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. For example, one of my favorites was the Kostmart woman who offered to sell Dick her pee for $200, saying, “I’ve been off the pipe for two years. Thank you, Jesus!” The delivery on that was hilarious! I wanted to see more of Dick actually working at Kostmart, though, and getting into confrontations with customers when he tells them not to test out foam toppers here or demands that they keep their kids under control or whatever.
- I thought the Spanish-speaking kid was pretty funny, as well. Usually that kind of joke feels worn out and tired by the end of the film, as the writers go to the same well a bit too often, but that didn’t happen here.
- The Enron joke at the end and the “Thank You” credits to all the disgraced Enron execs was unexpected — and pretty good.
Disliked:
- The tone of this film was all over the place, from occasionally smart to outright slapstick. I would have preferred more of the former and less of the latter.
- Some of the gags, such as the whole day laborer/migrant worker thing, went on too long. That part simply wasn’t very funny to me.
- Dick and Jane’s crime spree wasn’t exactly believable — even given the fact that this was a broad comedy and wasn’t supposed to be realistic. I couldn’t help but think of all the other avenues they could have tried (downsizing, borrowing from family members, etc.) before resorting to violent crime. I know that would have defeated the whole purpose of the movie, but it was still sort of hard to ignore logic for so long.
- I had high expectations for this one because it was written by Judd Apatow and featured such recognizable names in the cast, but the final product fell well short of what I’d hoped for.
Rating:
Fun with Dick and Jane had some enjoyable moments, but on the whole its entertainment value was rather lacking. Really, the best thing I can say about it is that it’s watchable (at least once), which certainly is faint praise. I give this one just 2 stars out of 5.