Fun with Dick and Jane

Directed by Dean Parisot
Paramount Pictures
4 stars

A couple suffering great misfortune turns to desperate measures in “Fun with Dick and Jane.” With a terrific combination of Jim Carrey-isms and social satire, the title says it all.
Dick (Carrey) and Jane (Tea Leoni), along with their bilingual son and maid, seem to have the perfect life. And after years of paying his dues, Dick is promoted to vice president at Globodyne, a huge corporation that consolidates media properties. But within 24 hours of his promotion, the company is destroyed in an Enron-type scandal and Dick, along with thousands of other employees, is left in the dust.
Dick and Jane believe that this reversal of fortune is a small setback and that things will come around. They don’t. After making many changes to their lifestyle—including turning in their Beemer and pawning off most of their valuables—they suddenly realize their once- luxurious lifestyle is drifting further and further away.
Since playing by the rules isn’t working for them anymore, they turn to armed robbery. Through their criminal adventures, Dick and Jane rediscover their love for one another and decide to teach the former heads of Globodyne a lesson.
Recently, it seems that Carrey is looking for more than just laughs when choosing roles: the smash hit “Bruce Almighty” was a pretty typical comedy, but also examined a man’s faith; “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” told a formulaic romantic story in a brilliant, new way. Here, he still manages to perform the slapstick that a Carrey connoisseur loves—he shocks himself with his dog’s electric collar, sending his trademark elastic limbs into spasm—but is genuine as a dedicated breadwinner and devoted father.
Director Dean Parisot—whose previous credits include the cult-hit “Galaxy Quest”—heads a top-notch production, making “Fun with Dick and Jane” more than your average Carrey flick. Alec Baldwin, Angie Harmon, and Richard Jenkins give memorable supporting performances, but the real standout here is the dazzling Leoni, who steals every scene as the straight (wo)man to the larger-than-life Carrey. Her comic timing is so in tune, she and Carrey are the perfect comic team.
Leoni’s character, a desperate housewife trying to keep up appearances as her life falls apart, allows viewers to sympathize with Dick and Jane’s dilemma. The humor of the film lies in the hilarious robbery scenes juxtaposed against suburban normalcy. When Dick and Jane attempt to rob a coffee shop, they also demand two iced mochas and non-fat muffins, with the cashier at gunpoint.
It seems as if every movie this holiday season is a remake or adaptation—“King Kong,” “The Producers,” “Yours, Mine, and Ours”—and “Dick and Jane” is no exception. Based on the 1977 flick of the same name starring George Segal and Jane Fonda, the new film ran the risk of seeming silly and unconvincing set in modern times. But scribes Nicholas Stoller and Judd Apatow—the latter of whom enjoyed great success over the summer with “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”—incorporate real elements from contemporary American life. They showcase a speech made by George W. Bush from 2000, promising economic stability; when we flash forward to the uncertain present, we can understand the reasons corporate yuppies might turn to crime.
Despite (or perhaps because of) its premise that crime pays, “Fun with Dick and Jane” is a welcome energetic, inoffensive romp—use it as an escape after “Syriana” or “Munich.”