Movie Review: Fun with Dick and Jane

As you have probably guessed from my various "Favorite Quotes", I’m a movie nut. Like books, movies are a great way to immerse yourself in other realms or places, while leaving your troubles behind. And isn’t that what we all want – to leave our troubles behind?
Recently, I’ve seen several remakes of older movies which left me cold. Quite often I found myself thinking: "what was wrong with the original, it was perfect!" (I know, everyone’s a critic. *wink*) But I was completely taken by surprise with the new Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) staring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni. I love Jim Carrey’s humor, but recently I’d been disappointed with his last couple of movies - - not so with this one.

Fun with Dick and Jane is not only uproarious, but heart warming, and just plain fun. Carrey and Leoni play Dick and Jane Harper, an upper middle class husband and wife, content in their high paying jobs, Spanish speaking maid and their very aware son - - life is good. And it gets even better when Dick gets an executive promotion within the company, allowing Jane to quit her hated job. But it doesn’t last long as Dick is made the patsy when the company goes bankrupt. Watching these two kind and timid characters hesitantly get involved in a life of crime is hilarious. I was happy to see Carrey back to his old form, making this a very funny and sweet movie. As they become more successful in their crime spree, they decide to take on the real crook, Dick’s former boss and CEO, Jack McCallister. I absolutely loved the ending - - the way these two get revenge is perfect.

Not only was the acting good, the sight-gags funny, but the writing and editing made this movie a joy to watch.

If you’re looking for a funny movie that can be viewed by the whole family, I highly recommend Fun with Dick and Jane.