"There's something quietly but unmistakably angry underneath all the slapstick. In its own crowd-pleasing way, Dick and Jane '05 wouldn't be out of place on a double-bill with Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room."
M.E. Russell OREGONIAN
"Finally, some escapist fun to get us through the holidays."
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
"Born and bred to be a winner."
Jon Popick PLANET SICK-BOY
"This is not the first time that Dick and Jane have had fun. In the 1977 original, a couple are forced into a life of crime to make ends meet. This version is given a timely update by introducing a corporate scandal to rival the Enron debacle as well as employing the considerable skills of Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni."
NINEMSN MOVIE REVIEWS
"Jim Carrey is hilarious as a man who slowly goes insane when his American Dream turns into a nightmare."
Betty Jo Tucker REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS
"D&J is an entertaining remake that has more substance than a lot of comedies these days. Leoni and Carrey have great chemistry so the scenes of desperation and light drama work well."
Dino White MOVIE MARSHALL
"I think this is a marvellous comedy. Four stars."
Jaimie LeonarderSBS THE MOVIE SHOW
"Carrey plays it reasonably straight to begin with, the bumbling but likeable loser caught in a maelstrom. Leoni develops Jane as an everywoman with a bit of sass and spirit. Their impoverishment, while pushed to ridiculous levels, maintains some truth. You laugh, but you know real people are going through this every day."
Paul Byrnes SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
"Starts off silly, soon becomes funny and then skyrockets into irrepressible hilarity."
Colin Covert MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
"Fun With Dick and Jane is the best kind of remake: It takes a dated film most people haven't seen or vaguely remember and updates the basic premise in a way that plugs it into here and now."
Tom Maurstad DALLAS MORNING NEWS
The Inside Story
How would I describe comedian Jim Carrey? With just three words. Talented, savvy and a chameleon. To me he's a modern day version of another very talented comedian I grew up with, Jerry Lewis. Back in the 'good old days' he and his partner Dean Martin had a huge following. And just as huge a number of detractors. Funny as Martin and Lewis were, believe me, not everyone found them funny. The same has applied to Jim Carrey. The difference with Carrey is that he's savvy [wise] enough to keep reinventing himself by diversifying his roles. Like a chameleon he keeps changing to suit the terrain, and it's working well. Each role seems to win him more and more fans as will his latest one as Dick Harper in the biting comedy "Fun With Dick & Jane" which by the way is a remake of the 1977 film of the same name which starred Jane Fonda and George Segal. Carrey was smart enough to take his idea to the man with the golden touch who had worked with him on the smash hits "Liar Liar" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas', Brian Grazer. The 39 time Oscars ® nominee and 64 time Emmy nominee who's work in films have taken over $11.2 billion in worldwide theatrical, music and video grosses recalls; "One day Jim came to me with this great idea to update "Fun With Dick and Jane". It not only had great comic potential but seemed torn from the headlines. He asked if I would be willing to produce it." And? "I jumped at the chance," he said. Realizing the importance of having someone who could balance all the elements of the film, Carrey and Grazer turned to the director of "Galaxy Quest", Dean Parisot. Dean remembers well that first meeting. "When I initially met with everyone about remaking this movie, I was especially intrigued with how the plight of this couple might play itself out now, at the beginning of the 21st century," he recalls. "By updating this story and putting it in the context of an Enron-like disaster, I thought there was great potential for a new, original, and very funny take on this material." he soon discovered the material was to his liking. In fact the story proved very tantalizing. "Here was this couple who has played by the rules and assembled all the things that define a successful American family. They worked hard and moved up the corporate ladder. They had a beautiful boy, in a great school, had bought their dream house. They had everything any of us could hope for. Sure, they were heavily mortgaged and in debt, but this was normal and would be taken care of as soon as Dick got his next promotion which, happily, Dick does get, only to lose it six hours later when his company goes down in flames. Unfortunately, Jane has already quit her job in anticipation of Dick’s new salary. Now, out of work and out of luck, we get to watch them lose everything. Even their lawn gets repossessed." It was too good an offer to pass up Dean says. "I knew it would be terrific fun to watch Dick and Jane lose their minds and go after the corporate criminal who bankrupted them." With Carrey in the role of Dick Harper, the faithful Globodyne employee of fifteen years, they next needed to find the ideal Jane. "She had to have the agility of a physical comedian and the right chemistry with Jim so that the audience would believe Dick and Jane have been together in a loving marriage for ten years," says Grazer.
For what little it is worth, I happen to think they made the ideal choice, considering the actress in question was one of my least favourites up until I saw her in the film "Spanglish". That actress was Téa Leoni. "Téa was the perfect candidate," says Carrey, "because I had seen her comedic work in "Flirting With Disaster" and thought she was tremendous. She’s one of the best actresses working today, so she could bring a tone of reality to the relationship. She has an adventurous spirit and a nervous vulnerability about her that I think makes her exciting and sexy, as well as endearing." Academy Award ® winner Brian Grazer agrees. "Téa is also comically durable and you have to be to work with Jim. You not only have to roll with the punches but create some punches that go back at him," he notes adding, " because that’s when he’s at his best." Director Dean Parisot says having Téa Leoni and Jim Carrey to work with was a real bonus. "The astounding thing about working with Jim is that most of my job entails setting up the scene and then stepping back to watch him play in it," says Parisot. “The fact that I also had Téa, who could go anywhere Jim went in her own very original and funny way, was a huge bonus. They worked so well together as a comedic couple. Their chemistry was absolutely perfect. They really complemented each other in every way. Jim has the ability to turn on a dime and try things from all kinds of different perspectives and Téa was right there with him. Watching them, I really felt that they had actually been together for years." Watching the two hit it off so well on the screen might make what is about to reveal a little unbelievable. Believe me it is true. There was no rehersal period, in fact Téa and Carrey met only one week before shooting began. "I was just terrified," Leoni says with a laughs. "For me, shooting without a rehearsal period is like the first day of school and you’ve been told that you don’t have your knickers on. But it also made it very exciting." In the end it seems they were the perfect pair. "I got lucky on this film because Jim and I got this great rhythm going from day one. We were able to take a very small nugget and run with it for five or ten minutes. It was like finding someone to whom you’re very well matched for a certain parlay." Also in the cast is an actor Carrey says he always wanted to work with, Academy Award ® winner Alec Baldwin. "Alex is one of those actors I’ve always wanted to work with. He brings a lot of creative energy to everything he does. He was one of the best hosts of ‘Saturday Night Live’ ever. I was a fan of his comedy chops way back when he did Miami Blues, which was a brilliantly twisted comedic performance. He is also very handsome and that sultry voice; oops!" Baldwin is full of praize for his Carrey. "Jim is the funniest person in the movie business, not only because he is ferociously smart and ceaselessly dedicated, but because his comedy has a big heart inside. There are other funny people, but some have a mean-spiritedness and their comedy comes at the expense of other people in the movie. With Jim there’s none of that. He’s such an original and inventive guy, he doesn’t need it." Some may not see the sympathetic tones underlying "Fun With Dick & Jane" but there is a moral message here about corporate greed, misappropriation and the suffering of the little man. It makes for a bittersweet comedy, and it works very well.
Cast & Crew Bytes
"FUN WITH DICK & JANE" stars .......
Jim Carrey ["The Majestic", "Bruce Almighty", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"]; Téa Leoni ["Deep Impact", "The Family Man", "Jurassic Park III" and "Spanglish"]; Richard Jenkins ["The Man Who Wasn't There", "Changing Lanes", "The Core", "Intolerable Cruelty" and "Cheaper by the Dozen"]; John Michael Higgins ["Bicentennial Man", "Best in Show", "A Mighty Wind" and "Blade: Trinity"] and Alec Baldwin ["The Cooler", "Along Came Polly", "The Aviator" and "Elizabethtown"] as Jack McCallister.
"FUN WITH DICK & JANE" was .......
directed by Dean Parisot ["Tom Goes to the Bar", "At The Movies I & II", "Home Fries" and "Galaxy Quest"]; screenplay by Judd Apatow ["Heavy Weights", "Celtic Pride" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"] and Nicholas Stoller ["Fun with Dick and Jane"]; costume design by Julie Weiss ["Hearts In Atlantis", "Frida", "Auto Focus", "The Ring" and "The Missing"]; production design by Barry Robison ["Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh", "October Sky", "The Rookie" and "Wedding Crashers"]; cinematography by Jerzy Zielinski ["Galaxy Quest", "Who Is Cletis Tout?", "Dodgeball" and "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"]; original music by Theodore Shapiro ["Old School", "Along Came Polly", "Starsky & Hutch" and "Suddenly 30"] produced by Jim Carrey ["Bruce Almighty"] and Brian Grazer ["8 Mile', "Friday Night Lights", "Inside Deep Throat", "Cinderella Man" and "Flightplan"].
What It's All About
Life couldn't be better for likeable, hard working Globodyne employee Dick Harper. He's just received news from his secretary that he's wanted on the 51st floor. Something big is in the air.d Dick can sense it. He's right. Dick's invited to breakfast with Globodyne boss Jack McCallister and the companies 2IC Frank Bascom. They offer Dick the position of Vice President in Communications and his first job is to appear on television and talk up the company. His TV debut is a disaster as Globodyne goes into meltdown and collapses. But Dick believes he hasn't a worry, after all the companies lucrative Pension Fund will keep him and his family afloat. What he doesn't know is that Jack McCallister has, along with selling all his personal stock in Globodyne, siphoned off the $US400 million and transfered it to bearer bonds in his own name. When the bank threatens to take Dick and Janes house from them, Dick comes up with a great way to stay afloat. He'll hold up businesses and relieve them off their cash. He's so hopeless Jane has to join him as a partner in crime. The robbery business is going well until Dick discovers Frank Bascom has been indicted and he, Dick, is next on the hit list. Can things ever get better for Dick & Jane?
The Verdict
"This slightly subdued performance by Jim Carrey is sure to win him a whole heap of new fans. It's clever, witty, cutting and aims straight for the heart of that all too common occurence known as "the corporate failure". Téa Leoni and Carrey make an excellent comedy teaming. When the lives of Dick & Jane are at their bleakest they still manage to keep us smiling even though we fully sense the terrible times they are enduring. Throw Richard Jenkins into the mix and there's laughs galore. And they keep coming right to the end! While this is one seriously funny film [that deserves your attention] it carries a message that we must never forget those who have suffered at the hands of reckless, greed possessed, ego driven executives who cared for no-ones elses future other than their own. Highly recommended."
Who's Who?
Jim Carrey
Téa Leoni
Richard Jenkins
Alec Baldwin
Michelle Arthur
Conrad Bachmann
Richard Burgi
Michael A Cassidy
Dr Melissa Caudle
Luis Chávez
Mark Correy
Larry Dorf
Jullian Dulce Vida
Chris Ellis
Daniel Espeseth
Wayne Flemming
Gloria Garayua
Angie Harmon
John Michael Higgins
Kerry Hoyt
Carlos Jacott
Pavel Lychnikoff
Oliver Muirhead
Rob Nagle
Taso Papadakis
Dempsey Pappion
Huey Redwine
Emilio Rivera
Maggie Rowe
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Dick Harper
Jane Harper
Frank Bascom
Jack McCallister
Dick's Secretary
Prosecutor Phil
Joe
Cameraman
Kost Mart Customer
Valet Parker
Cayman Banker
Car Salesman
Eduardo
RJ Wade
Bank Security Guard
Nosey Neighbor
Blanca
Veronica
Garth
Coffee Shop Guy
Oz Peterson
Andrei
The Account Manager
Businessman
Gym Manager
Production Assistant
INS Agent
Illegal Alien
Karen Williams
The Crew
Directed by Dean Parisot
Produced by Jim Carrey & Brian Grazer
Screenplay by Judd Apatow & Nicholas Stoller
Original Music by Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography by Jerzy Zielinski
Film Editing by Don Zimmerman
Casting by Debra Zane
Production Design by Barry Robison
Art Direction by Gregory S Hooper & Troy Sizemore
Set Decoration by Garrett Lewis
Costume Design by Julie Weiss
Run Time 91 minutes
Rated M [AUST]
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