Fun with Dick and Jane ** (2005, Jim Carrey, Téa Leoni, Alec Baldwin, Richard Jenkins) – Classic Movie Review 11,936

Director Dean Parisot’s 2005 American black comedy remake film Fun with Dick and Jane stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni, and is written by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller, based on Gerald Gaiser’s story and the screenplay of the 1977 original film, whose shadow hangs menacingly over it.

The appealing Carrey and Leoni give game but struggling, slightly off-balance performances in a weary and completely unnecessary remake of the actual fun 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane, which had the good fortune to star George Segal and Jane Fonda. Carrey gives one of his less energetic slapstick performances, and in any case his brand of physical humour is not really suitable for the satirical material, which seeks to be critical of the American way of life, while Leoni seems miscast and less than fully engaged or fired-up, not really the ideal partner for the wired Carrey, whose show it is.

The story is about a middle-class American married couple Dick and Jane Harper (Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni), who resort to robbery when the Dick’s employer goes bankrupt.

Crucially, original director Barry Sonnenfeld and original star Cameron Diaz both left the film, and the script had a long series of efforts to polish it.

Though Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller are credited, Peter Tolan wrote the first draft of the screenplay, then the Coen brothers were reported as rewriting the script, then Apatow and Stoller worked on the script with director Dean Parisot (who replaced Barry Sonnenfeld), and finally the film had more than two weeks of reshoots and numerous rewrites. David Koepp, Ed Solomon, Ted Griffin and the team of Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer all did uncredited rewrites.

Also in the cast are Alec Baldwin, Richard Jenkins, Angie Harmon, John Michael Higgins, Richard Burgi, Carlos Jacott, Gloria Garayua, Stephnie Weir star, and James Whitmore in an uncredited cameo. It is James Whitmore’s final film role before his death four years later, playing Toy Store Security Guard (uncredited).

It is made by JC 23 Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment, Columbia Pictures and was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on 21 December 2005 and grossed more than $204 million worldwide.

The cast are Jim Carrey as Dick Harper, Téa Leoni as Jane Harper, Alec Baldwin as Jack McCallister, Richard Jenkins as Frank Bascombe, Angie Harmon as Veronica Cleeman, John Michael Higgins as Garth, Richard Burgi as Joe Cleeman, Carlos Jacott as Oz Peterson, Stephnie Weir as Debbie Peterson, David Herman as voice of Angry Caller, Aaron Michael Drozin as Billy Harper, Gloria Garayua as Blanca, Jason Marsden as Convenience Store Employee, Clint Howard as INS Agent, Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Andrei/Load Boxer, Vincent Curatola as Dick’s Neighbour, Jeff Garlin as Pyramid Tech CEO, Crystal the Monkey as Test Monkey, Luis Saguar as Héctor, Timm Sharp as Jack’s Assistant, Laurie Metcalf as Phyllis, James Whitmore as Toy Store Security Guard, Ralph Nader as Himself, and Kym Whitley as Lucy.

The title comes from one of the books in the Dick and Jane series of children’s educational books. Dick and Jane are the two main characters created by Zerna Sharp for a series of text book readers written by William S Gray to teach children to read.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,936

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