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See Dick (Jim Carrey). Dick is a successful businessman with a great job for a great company called Globodyne. See Jane (Téa Leoni). Jane has a thankless job as a travel agent. But Dick and Jane are happy. They have a gorgeous house and an adorable son, Billy (Jacob Davich)—never mind the fact that he speaks Spanish more than he speaks English, thanks to their maid, Blanca (Gloria Gurayua).
Dick and Jane are even happier when Dick finds out that he’s been promoted to Vice President of Communications. Jane even quits her job so she can stay home with Billy. It looks like things are finally going their way.
Unfortunately, Dick’s first job as VP is to go on a talk show and “put a positive spin” on the company’s numbers as the company’s stock crashes to the ground, leaving the employees to shred documents and plunder the office. Dick tries to stay positive. He’ll get another VP job soon, right? But alas, this is the year 2000, and executives everywhere are fighting for jobs. After months of unsuccessful job-hunting, they’ve been forced to sell everything they own. The landscapers have repossessed their lawn, and the bank is about to repossess their home, and Dick and Jane start to get a little desperate. The only thing left for these formerly upstanding citizens is to turn to a life of crime.
I went in to see Fun with Dick and Jane knowing it could go either way. I’ve found that Jim Carrey movies are pretty hit-or-miss. He can use his talent for comedy well—or he can go all-out, over-the-top outrageous and end up pushing it too far. But in Fun with Dick and Jane, Carrey is subtly hilarious. He’s funny without being too outrageous. His performance reminded me a bit of Liar Liar, which is probably my favorite Jim Carrey comedy.
Leoni’s performance isn’t exactly dazzling—in that “Wow! Look at her!” kind of way—but she does play off Carrey well. She’s got a dry delivery that somehow works well with his silliness. In fact, if she’d tried to match his style, I think it would have been too much.
Fun with Dick and Jane does its title justice. It really is fun. There are plenty of laughs and memorable scenes—and if you prefer a more subtle Jim Carrey to an over-the-top Dumb and Dumber kind of Jim Carrey, it’s well worth seeing at least once. I’ve already added it to my wish list.
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