Run, Dick, Run!

I got into a fender-bender this morning and my consolation prize was this movie:

Fun With Dick And Jane
Director: Dean Parisot
Starring: Jim Carrey, Tea Leoni
Rated: PG-13

"Fun With Dick and Jane" does not end up being as much fun as we'd like it to be. The movie revolves around the title characters and their fun filled life. They both have high paying jobs, when the amazing happens: Dick gets promoted as the new VP Chairman of a big business. Because of the new promotion, Jane quits her job, Dick orders some new things for the house, and life is just perfect. Unfortunately, it turns out Dick was promoted to be a scapegoat for the corporation, and Dick is thrown on TV to explain to the world why the CEO (played by Alac Baldwin) has just cashed in on all the stock he owned, and why the company has gone bankrupt.

Dick has no answers, and suffers all this humiliation just to wind up without a job. A few months later, both Dick and Jane can't find work, and they are reduced to crime to make themselves money so they can live. Strangely enough, this is where the movie takes a dive. Instead of being like Robin Hood and taking from the rich and greedy, they steel from the poor and good people who work hard to make an honest buck. Kind of hard to root for the main characters when they are robbing an old-timer who runs a gift shop store. I won't deny that "Fun With Dick and Jane" isn't funny.

This movie does contained some laughs, and there are even a couple scenes that are gut-splitting funny. However these moments aren't frequent enough, and most of the laughs are mere chuckles then genuine laughs. This also isn't Jim Carrey's best work to date either. Considering he made this movie after making the very intriguing (and strange) "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," this movie seems like going back to the basics for him. Tea Leoni is also annoying, playing the same hyperactive mom she's played in the last five or seven films she's made.

Dick and Jane eventually do make an effort to get even with the evil CEO who put them (and other families) in misery, but by then it feels like too little too late. By now we've gotten the message that corporations are evil, and we don't like Dick and Jane very much at this point. This movie tries to make a point that people with money are evil and selfish people, but then the movie contradicts itself by saying the same thing about poor people who live an honest life. Oh, and according to the banners in this movie, Gore won the election. Ho, ho. While it may be worth a rental, "Fun With Dick and Jane" isn't very fun when you have to pay $10 to see it.

Grade: C-