Fun with Dick & Jane (www.the-usher.com)

"I think we're in a bit of a pickle Dick"

Thinking he has got the promotion he has always dreamed of, Dick Harper (Carrey) and his wife Jane (Leoni) can finally start living the high life. Their euphoria is soon crushed however when Dick is made the media patsy for the company as it plummets into ruin. Unemployed and a joke within the commercial community, Dick and Jane are on the verge of ruin when desperation and the treat of foreclosure on their house, forces them into a life of crime.

As the Hollywood ideas well continues to dry up, they return to another 70s movie for inspiration but can Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni make spending time with Dick and Jane fun?

The original 1977 movie starring George Segal and Jane Fonda was a keeping up with the Jones' tale of a couple trying to fit into a class that was way beyond their means. The modern day retelling sticks to many of the same principles but now big business is their target. The effect of profiteering CEO on their employees is the main focus of the new millennium remake. Now we have a couple rebelling against corporate America, after Dick is made the media scapegoat for the company and its now better off CEO. This is so they can keep up their own standard of living that they have become accustomed to.

You would think that this plot device would serve the film well and give great scope for comedic highjinx but you would be mistaken. With gifted comic actors as your leads, the lacklustre script only ever manages to raise a smile, as both Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni are criminally underused. There crime spree is never really inventive or funny, with them just dressing up in stupid disguises that make them standout far too much anyway and gives away exactly what they are doing. Their revenge again CEO Jack McAllister, played by an underused Alec Bladwin, is lacklustre as the filmmakers even fail to raise the bar during the finale.

As a statement on the modern world's preoccupation with status and material things it also fails. Instead of a message of you only need each other to get by in life, it preaches that you should do anything to stay at the level you have become accustomed to, even if this means breaking the law. There are no references to any police investigation into their activities or even any media coverage of the string of robberies they have committed, making you think that the film actually condones what they are doing.

'Fun with Dick & Jane' is an interesting premise that is never truly realised and proof again that remakes are simply not a good idea. Filled with clichéd moments, a cast that just breezes through the movie and very few laughs, this is a movie that is missing one main thing, fun.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Press Junket Highlights (3.27 mins)
Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni respond to some of the clichéd and extremely strange questions they get asked in the press junkets for 'Fun with Dick & Jane'

Gag Reel (3.06 mins)
Watch Jim Carrey, Téa Leoni and the rest of the cast have fun on set with Jim Carrey really going to town with his disguises.

Deleted Scenes
Entitled 'Backyard Barbecue', 'Spice it up', 'Extended Jane Aerobics', 'Kostmart Robbery', 'Video Store Robbery' and 'Toy Store Robbery', these deleted or extended scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track or introduction to reveal why they were cut.

Filmmaker's Commentary
Director Dean Parisot and writers Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller provide a fun and chatty commentary for 'Fun with Dick & Jane'. The trio talk about why they remade a film that was already considered a classic and how they changed the story to reflect the Enron scandal that hit the US at the turn of the century. They talk about the casting and the chemistry between Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni, as well as what the ensemble cast brought to the film. This is a good commentary that is well worth a listen for fans of the film.

Trailers
Previews of 'Open Season', 'Zathura', 'Yours, Mime and Ours', 'The Producers' and 'Bewitched'

OVERALL

For a Sony Pictures release the DVD treatment for 'Fun with Dick & Jane' is slightly disappointing. With no making of featurette or even a retrospective comparison between the original and the remake, only the commentary track is worth a listen for fans of the film, making it a let down for fans.

DVD

Fun with Dick & Jane (1977)

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2006