Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)

Fun with Dick and Jane
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Dean Parisot[1]
Produced by	Jim Carrey Brian Grazer
Screenplay by	Judd Apatow Nicholas Stoller
Story by	Judd Apatow Nicholas Stoller Gerald Gaiser
Based on	Fun with Dick and Jane (novel) by Gerald Gaiser Fun with Dick and Jane (film) by David Giler Jerry Belson Mordecai Richler
Starring	Jim Carrey Téa Leoni Alec Baldwin Richard Jenkins Gloria Garayua
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography	Jerzy Zielinski
Edited by	Don Zimmerman
Production company	Imagine Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	December 21, 2005
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35 million
Box office	$202 million

Fun with Dick and Jane is a 2005 American comedy film—a remake of the 1977 comedy film of the same name—that was directed by Dean Parisot, and written by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller. It stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni as Dick and Jane Harper, an upper-middle-class couple who resort to robbery after the company for which Dick works goes bankrupt. Alec Baldwin, Richard Jenkins, Angie Harmon, John Michael Higgins, Richard Burgi, Carlos Jacott, Gloria Garayua, and Stephnie Weir also star. James Whitmore appears in an uncredited cameo; his final film appearance.

It was released by Columbia Pictures on December 21, 2005. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed over US$202 million at the global box office.

Plot summary

In January 2000, Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) has been promoted to Vice President of Communications for the large media corporation Globodyne. The next day, he is asked on a television program in which host Sam Samuels and presidential candidate Ralph Nader call Dick and the company's employees "perverters of the American dream" and claim it helps the super-rich get even wealthier. As they speak, Globodyne's stock value falls rapidly; it and its employees' pensions, which are in Globodyne's stock, are soon worthless. Dick arrives home, where his wife Jane (Téa Leoni) tells him that she has quit her job as a travel agent after his promotion to spend more time with their son Billy. Dick breaks the news of the company's failure over the family's dinner, instantly alarming Jane. Despite his attempts, Dick is unable to get another VP job; Jane tells him the couple face bankruptcy because their assets are composed entirely of now-worthless Globodyne stock.

After accepting the prospect of being poor, Dick and Jane apply for low-paying jobs. After being fired from all local businesses, having their utilities cut off, selling off their possessions, and receiving 24 hours notice of eviction from their home, they decide to turn to crime. Dick decides to rob a local convenience store but loses his nerve. After several failed attempts, they rob a head shop. They begin nightly robbing sprees and become more professional; they have soon stolen enough money to retire the mortgages on their house and car, both of which were about to be repossessed. For their final crime, Dick and Jane rob a local bank; all goes as planned until another couple who used to work for Globodyne, Oz (Carlos Jacott) and Debbie Peterson (Stephnie Weir), make an amateurish attempt to rob the bank. The Petersons are quickly arrested; Dick and Jane take advantage of the hysteria to evade the police, but fail to steal any money.

The Harpers decide to give up crime, but Dick finds he is to be indicted for his role in Globodyne's demise. At the local bar, Dick encounters Frank Bascombe (Richard Jenkins), the former CFO of Globodyne, who is drunk and guilt-ridden. Frank tells Dick the company's crooked CEO Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin) diverted all of Globodyne's assets and dumped the entire stock, thus ruining the company and its employees while escaping with a $400-million fortune. Frank, who is about to go to prison after a failed attempt to expose McCallister's crimes, has received a $10 million bribe from McCallister in exchange for his silence.

After learning about McCallister's scheme, Dick, Jane and Frank decide to take revenge. Frank tells them McCallister plans to transfer his $400 million in bearer bonds to an offshore account. Dick and Jane must intercept the transfer from inside the bank and substitute a fake form, transferring the funds to an account Frank has established. McCallister checks the account number on his transfer and demands it is redone. Dick confronts McCallister and demands that he signs a blank check. Knowing Dick's threats are empty, McCallister writes him a check for $100 and leaves the bank. Dick tells Jane that was his contingency plan; Jane can now forge McCallister's signature.

The next day, McCallister is mobbed by reporters and former Globodyne employees, all praising him for his generosity. Dick appears, and as McCallister's vice president, hands him a prepared statement, which McCallister reads on live television. McCallister is shocked to announce that he has transferred $400 million to a trust fund to support Globodyne's defunct pension plan in gratitude to his former employees. Dick and Jane lead the cheers from the crowd, while McCallister faces them, unable to expose the two without revealing his own crimes. A news report later shows Dick and Jane delivering pension fund checks to former Globodyne employees, including the now-imprisoned Petersons, while reporting that McCallister's net worth has been reduced to around $2,000.

A year later, Dick's family drive a rusty old Volkswagen into the sunset. While Billy is teaching his parents Spanish words, a Bentley containing Dick's friend Garth (John Michael Higgins) approaches. Garth tells Dick he has a new job at a company called Enron.

Cast

Background

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Gaiser which was previously filmed in 1977. Peter Tolan wrote the first draft of the screenplay. In June 2003 it was announced that Jim Carrey would star in the film with Barry Sonnenfeld directing and Brian Grazer producing.^[2] On 14 July it was announced that Cameron Diaz would star opposite Carrey.^[3] The same day it was also reported that the Coen brothers would rewrite the script.^[4] On 30 July it was announced that Sonnenfeld had left the film, six weeks before the start of production.^[5] Production was postponed until after Carrey had completed his next film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.^[6] On 2 October it was announced that Dean Parisot would replace Sonnenfeld as director and that production would start in June 2004.^[6] Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller worked on the script with Parisot.^[6] Diaz then left the film. On 21 July 2004 it was announced that she would be replaced by Téa Leoni.^[7]

Production

The film had more than two weeks of reshoots and numerous rewrites.^[8] David Koepp, Ed Solomon, Ted Griffin and the team of Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer all did uncredited rewrites.^[9]

Reception

Critical reaction

Fun With Dick and Jane received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics.^[10] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 29%, based on 132 reviews, with the critical consensus reading, "This muddled comedy has a few laughs, but never sustains a consistent tone".^[11] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[12]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote "The rare Hollywood remake that, by daring to reinterpret its source material within a fresh political context, actually has a reason to exist". ^[13]

Box office

After a disappointing opening weekend of $14,383,515, the film played in theaters throughout the holiday season, making nearly eight times its opening weekend gross. It eventually earned $110,332,737 at the domestic box office, and $91,693,375 in international receipts, for a total, worldwide revenue of $202,026,112.The film's budget was $100 million. It is one of twelve feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters and improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 14.9% from $14,383,515 to $16,522,532.^[14]

Home media

As of July 6, 2006, Fun with Dick and Jane had generated $43.5 million from DVD rentals.

Soundtrack

The score by Theodore Shapiro written for the film was released on January 24, 2006.^[15]

Other songs

The following songs are featured in the film, but are not included on the soundtrack:

1. "I Believe I Can Fly" - R. Kelly
2. "Smooth Operator" - Sade
3. "Right Place Wrong Time" - Dr. John
4. "What I Got" - Sublime
5. "Sandstorm" - Darude
6. "Why Me Lord" - Johnny Cash
7. "Wedding" - Randy Newman
8. "Time Bomb" - Rancid
9. "Uncontrollable Urge" - Devo
10. "Insane in the Brain" - Cypress Hill
11. "Alive & Amplified" - The Mooney Suzuki
12. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" - Sam Cooke

References

External links

• Fun with Dick and Jane at the Internet Movie Database
• Fun with Dick and Jane at Rotten Tomatoes
• Fun with Dick and Jane at Metacritic
• Fun with Dick and Jane at Box Office Mojo