Mr. Jim Carrey, at the car dealership, with a squirt gun.
Disguised as Cher.
It's hard to imagine how a film like "Fun with Dick and Jane" could go wrong. Slapstick armed robberies are normally the needed break from the typical holiday flicks that star either dying mothers or skyscraper-sized jungle creatures. But "Dick and Jane's" feeble attempts at establishing itself as a political satire make the movie more fatuous than fun. The film falters and fails as it tries to stretch itself beyond the confines of senseless comedy and into the realm of social commentary.
The movie, a remake of the innocuous 1977 George Segal/Jane Fonda comedy, highlights the desperation facing a typical, white-collar suburban family after Dick Harper (Carrey, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") loses his freshly obtained position as VP of communications at an Enron-inspired mega-business.
Trapped in the vicious cycle of unemployment, Dick and his spirited wife Jane (Tea Leoni, "Spanglish") are sick of "being screwed for following the rules." And after a series of unsuccessful, below-minimum-wage jobs, a deportation to Mexico and showers in their neighbor's sprinklers, the couple adopts the mentality that if the big execs can steal and get away with it, so can they. Their Bonnie-and-Clyde lifestyle and its ensuing debacles outfit the latter half of the film, ending with financial sabotage against the corrupt exec and victory for the little man.
The film's trailer depicts a typical, senseless Jim Carrey flick. But while "Dumb and Dumber" was funny, "Fun with Dick and Jane" was dumb. Carrey's overacting and rubbery face made him famous … a decade ago. With films like "The Truman Show" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" highlighting his resume, Carrey's shown the world that he's moved on to deeper, more complicated roles, and Dick Harper is a step back. He's the cable guy with a political agenda.
Actually, the whole movie is a step back. To everyone besides the Granger Kids, the Enron scandal is seated in the past, the answer to an extra-credit question in 11th grade social studies. The film takes place in the year 2000, long enough ago to have lost any relevance to the status quo, recent enough to be stripped of any sort of historic significance.
Unlike the Enron scandal, the roots of the movie's core conflict are embedded in unsoiled grounds: the Kenneth Lay-like Alec Baldwin character is you-know-what; Dick is an innocent victim with no other options. That's good enough. The added political commentary is embarrassing to viewers residing on either side of the wing.
Dick and Jane, for example, plan their next robbery while standing beside a Gore/Lieberman sign; Baldwin's character duck hunts during a press conference; and the ending credits thank Enron, Worldcom and other corporate criminals. The film tries aimlessly to be politically cute, but instead succeeds as uninspiring, at best.
And for viewers still desperately holding on to their beliefs that this movie is indeed a postmodern masterpiece, propagandized art manipulating the masses by feeding to their most uninhibited self, maybe you're right. The film, written by the guy credited for "The 40-Year Old Virgin" screenplay, was really provoking deep, subconscious stimulation when it showcased five minutes of a grown man dancing to old-school R. Kelly in an elevator. The film's shtick humor makes its political undertones preachy and insincere. Director Dean Parisot obviously had an agenda when creating this film, but its predictable, paint-by-number plot development masks any possibility of deeper substance.
Despite its teetering story line, the film was surprisingly well acted. Though shockingly shy of any Oscar-worthy performances, "Fun with Dick and Jane" is comprised of a cast that managed to add flavor to its underdeveloped, stigmatized characters. Carrey instilled his trademark antics, giving his otherwise charisma-deprived character a bit of heart. And Leoni was actually able to hold her own working in Carrey's shadow, a task most of his costars failed to accomplish.
And it's not as if "Fun with Dick and Jane" wasn't funny; it's just that it wasn't very funny. Most of the film's humor runs dry and is forgotten by the next scene, but, still, it's hard not to laugh when the couple's lawn is repossessed or when they go on a spree and add fat-free muffins to their bag of cash. And depicting the white, suburban couple's son speaking better Spanish than English, mocking their paralyzed parenting, is a much more effective attempt at creating social satire than by going after big businesses.
The Enron scandal was shameful and bad, but perhaps not quite as bad as "Fun with Dick and Jane." The best part of this film: its running time of a mere 90 minutes. It's always fun to leave a movie with the satisfying recognition that you're smarter than its creators.
Rating: 2 out of 5
