Fun with Dick and Jane

Jim Carrey takes too big a share of the action in Fun with Dick and Jane.

Herald rating: **

Fun with Dick And Jane is only going to be fun if you're a fan of Jim Carrey and his physically-exaggerated form of comedy.

Teaming with Tea Leoni, Carrey is keen to steal the show, however, his desire to drag a gag out adds nothing to the story and has a more tiresome, than fun, result.

A remake of the relatively well received 1977 flick starring George Segal and Jane Fonda, Fun with Dick and Jane is the story of a middle class suburban couple who fall on hard times and resort to stealing.

Over the space of a week, Dick is promoted to vice-president of Communications at Globodyne, a company he's worked at for years, his wife Jane quits her travel agent job, Globodyne crashes taking with it their savings and pension, and their ready lawn is repossessed.

It's a suburban nightmare.

Unable to find work, Dick decides to stop playing by the rules, and starts stealing to pay the mortgage.

Slowly Dick and Jane become accomplished thieves.

When a bank robbery goes wrong, they decide it's time for one final big heist, scamming Globodyne's President Jack McAllister (Baldwin) out of the money he stole from his employees.

The problem with Carrey is you feel you've seen it all before. Carrey's stepped outside his comfort zone and stunned us with performances in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but in Fun with Dick and Jane he's back to his old tricks, and you can't help thinking it's all about the paycheck.

Carrey's not helped by the odd pacing of the film. The set-up drags on for the first half, the second act is over before you know it, and the ending takes a clumsy turn from pointless fun and makes a late bid at becoming a satire on the workings of companies that it should always have been about. Or was the first time round.

CAST: Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, Tea Leoni, Angie Harmon
DIRECTOR: Dean Parisot
RUNNING TIME: 91 Minutes
RATING: M - Low Level Offensive Language
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts and Berkeley Cinemas