RUTHERFORD ON FILM
‘Fun With Dick and Jane’ An Entertaining, Spirited Romp, But It Can’t Match Segal/Fonda 1977 Original
By Tony RutherfordHuntington News Network Writer
Huntington, WV (HNN) --- What do Adelphia, Enron, Worldcom and other conglomerates debacles have in common? The C.E.O.s and top executives escaped with most of the bucks and the mid-level and salaried workers lost their jobs, seniority, investments, health and pension funds.
Enter Dick (Jim Carrey) Harper, who works for a fictionalized company like one of the above. On the day he’s promoted to the 51st floor, named vice president of communications, and rates calling the boss (Alec Baldwin) by his first name, he’s slapped into an air chair and a live camera to explain why the company tanked. Unprepared for the ambush, his befuddling attempts at nationwide television spin set him up as a dopey business ‘pulling a Dick’ failure icon.
Unfortunately, his wife Jane (Tea Leoni) quit her travel agent job that day anticipating that Dick would be making a comfortable six-figure salary. Months later, he (and thousands of others) find themselves unemployed piranhas who are either told “there’s no new openings and don’t call back” or “come right on in” which leads to suited individuals pushing water coolers down the stairs to trip other applicants on their way to the interview.
Flunking out as a Kost Mart greeter and deported as an illegal alien painter, Dick and Jane find themselves showering in their neighbor’s sprinkler, trading appliances for housework, and seeing their lawn repossessed.
With the vigor, but not the charisma of the famous “I’m not going to take it anymore” rallying cry from “Network,” Carrey shouts, “We’ve followed the rules, but we got screwed.” He grabs his sons squirt pistol and d abbles into a life of crime with a bag of Raisonettes as his first trophy. The updated “Fun with Dick and Jane” soars during the pair’s falling down the tubes and during their celebrity masked often feeble cash cow heists. Yet, as Carrey carries these initial phases as the semi-confident, slightly dim witted exec to be and as a tattered first time bandit, when the simple minded ruses turn into a sophisticated caper, neither he nor co-star Leoni adapt well to the infusion of “Mission Impossible” intricacies.
It’s hardly a vengeance celebration like “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” but the early gags and torturous trail of half-hearted robberies (including one in which they claim to mochas with the bucks) generate laughter which suffices through the only adequate economic end game justice.
I recall the George Segal and Jane Fonda’s 1977 original offered wall-to-wall sight gags and social commentary emanating from a cross-dressing bank teller, fast food rip off, and Fonda’s misguided moments as a restaurant hostess. The original had rapid-fire lines, multi-tasked scenes, and was unafraid of a little screwy slapstick.
When compared to the 2005 remake, the 1977 version wins with all thumbs up. But give Carrey and company credit for a spirited romp that entertains well but will not leave you rolling in the aisles or inspired to crusade for middle-class justice.