Meet Dick Harper (Jim Carrey). Dick works for Globodyne, one of those big conglomerates that seems made of money - until one day when Globodyne folds almost instantaneously, leaving Dick, his wife Jane (Téa Leoni) and their son sinking into bankruptcy during the failing economy of 2000 (in which the film is set). After selling their possessions and trying unsuccessfully, with some amusing results, to find new work, Dick and Jane are forced into a life of crime.
This is the story of "
Fun with Dick and Jane," a remake of the 1977 George Segal/Jane Fonda comedy. The film worked well in 1977, as the Me Generation was working its way into the excess of the 80's, and it almost works today with Globodyne standing in for Enron or WorldCom or their ilk (many of which are cheekily thanked in the closing credits). The problem with "Fun" is that it never does anything with its premise. It goes through the motions and evaporates almost as quickly as you see it. What could have been an interesting satire of the current economic times ends up just another fluff piece.
Director Dean Parisot's experience in television ("Monk", "Curb Your Enthusiasm") makes him ideally suited for the film, which has all the weight of a sitcom - particularly it's rushed, forced ending. Screenwriters Nicholas Stoller and Judd Apatow (the latter of the superior
"The 40 Year Old Virgin") manage to keep the gags coming at a brisk pace for the length of the film. While it never lags, it also never rises above a playful chuckle. Though Alec Baldwin's inspired turn as Globodyne's CEO is good for a laugh.
Téa Leoni proves to have surprising potential to be a fine comic actress, but she has an uneasy grip on the over-the-top hijinks required for this film. Ms. Leoni is at her best in well-defined roles, but the character of Jane Harper offers her too many opportunities to flail. Plus, it's difficult for any actress (or actor, for that matter) to occupy a scene with Jim Carrey.
It's no revelation that Mr. Carrey is a national comic treasure. Over the course of his career he's evolved from near comic grotesquery (Fire Marshall Bill from "In Living Color" comes to mind) to blatant Oscar bids ("The Truman Show", "Man on the Moon") and back again (Count Olaf in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events") with wildly mixed results. While Mr. Carrey has never been better than "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Fun" may be his best attempt to squeeze into the ill-fitting Everyman role since 1997's "Liar, Liar".
But those expecting a laugh-out-loud riot will be sorely disappointed. The film is amusing if never entirely entertaining. There are some humorous moments, but it's not funny enough to be a great comedy nor is it pointed enough to be a good satire. "Fun" lands somewhere in the middle. I walked out of the film surrounded by a group of young girls debating if it were simply "bad" or rather "not that bad". The girls were disappointed, it seems, that the film lacked the Jim Carrey of a "Dumb & Dumber" or even "Bruce Almighty". They finally landed on the verdict that it wasn't bad; it just "wasn't that funny". I couldn't have said it better myself.
