Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)

{{About|the remake |the original with George Segal & Jane Fonda |Fun with Dick and Jane (1977 film)}}

{{Infobox film

| image = Fun with D & J.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Dean Parisot{{cite web|title=Fun With Dick And Jane (2005)|url=http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/funwithdickandjane/}}

| screenplay = {{Plainlist|

}}

| story = {{Plainlist|

Judd Apatow
Nicholas Stoller
Gerald Gaiser

}}

| based_on = {{Based on|Fun with Dick and Jane|David Giler|Jerry Belson|Mordecai Richler|Gerald Gaiser}}

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Brian Grazer
Jim Carrey{{cite web|url=http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/info/faqs.html?answer=21|title=Frequently Asked Questions|work=Jim Carrey Online|access-date=February 18, 2009}}

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Jerzy Zieliński

| editing = Don Zimmerman

| music = Theodore Shapiro

| studio = {{Plainlist|

}}

| distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing

| released = {{film date|2005|12|21}}

| runtime = 91 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $100 million

| gross = $204.7 million{{cite web |title=Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=funwithdickandjane.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=September 12, 2016}}

}}

Fun with Dick and Jane (stylized in marketing as Fun with Dick & Jane) is a 2005 American crime comedy film directed by Dean Parisot from a screenplay by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller. A remake of the 1977 film of the same name, the film stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni as a married, middle-class couple who, after the husband's employer goes bankrupt, struggle to maintain jobs before eventually resorting to robberies. Alec Baldwin and Richard Jenkins also star, and James Whitmore appears in an uncredited cameo in one of his final roles.

Fun with Dick and Jane was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on December 21, 2005 and grossed over $204 million worldwide at the box office. The film received mixed reviews from critics. It was the third collaboration between Carrey and producer Brian Grazer, after Liar Liar (1997) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).

Plot

In 2000, Dick Harper gets promoted to Vice President of Communications for the major media corporation Globodyne. He convinces his wife Jane to quit her job as a travel agent to spend more time with their son Billy, as Dick's salary would be able to cover their expenses.

However, during an interview on television on his first day, he discovers his CEO covertly sold 80 percent of his shares in the company; just then, Globodyne is accused of "perverting the American dream" by presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Simultaneously, all of the company's stocks drop to zero, the firm is declared bankrupt, and everyone, including Dick, loses their jobs and pensions. Dick tries to confront CEO Jack McCallister, but he smugly dismisses his former employee and flies away in a helicopter.

Breaking the news to his family that night, Dick tries to assure them that he can simply find a new vice president position. However, he soon finds that Globodyne's collapse has sent the overall economy into a recession, dashing any hope of finding a lucrative new position. In addition, the television interview has tarnished his reputation as being incompetent, rendering him unhirable in his field of profession. Even worse, Jane discovers that, because their pension and all their savings and investments, were tied up in Globodyne's now-worthless stock, the family now has no assets and can no longer afford their mortgage payments.

Dick and Jane get jobs as a retail associate and a workout instructor, respectively, but Dick is fired for harassing an elderly customer and Jane is dismissed after unintentionally assaulting a client. Their utilities are soon cut off, and the couple have no choice but to pawn their valuables and take illegal off-the-books employment; this results in Dick being deported to Mexico by federal immigration officers and having to sneak back across the border while Jane has a severe allergic reaction that leaves her temporarily disfigured. The last straw comes when the bank sends them an eviction notice; Dick turns to crime and persuades his wife to help him.

After a few mishaps, they rob a head shop. They go on to have a few nightly robbing sprees, becoming more comfortable and professional, even stealing from people who wronged them during their job search, and eventually retire their entire debt. For their final heist, they come up with a complex scheme to steal from a local bank. All goes as planned until the Petersons – another Globodyne couple – make an amateurish attempt to rob the same bank. The Petersons are quickly arrested, and Dick and Jane lose their chance to rob the place but take advantage of the hysteria to escape.

Watching a news report on the arrests of the Petersons and other former Globodyne employees who desperately turned to crime, the Harpers decide to cease their criminal lifestyle. However, Dick finds that his interview with Ralph Nader has caused him to be indicted for his unwitting role in the company's collapse. Drowning his sorrows at a millionaire's club, he stumbles upon the drunk former CFO of the company, Frank Bascombe. When he and Jane confront him, Frank remorsefully admits McCallister had planned everything from the beginning: during Dick's television interview, McCallister diverted all of Globodyne's assets and then dumped the entire stock, thus ruining the company and its employees and investors, and leaving Dick and Frank to take the blame, while embezzling a $400 million fortune and getting off scot-free. Frank, about to go to prison for 18 months for his role in the scheme after failing to expose McCallister's crimes, got $10 million in hush money from him.

Frank tells him McCallister plans to transfer the $400 million to an offshore account and creates a plan with Dick and Jane to intercept the transfer, rerouting the funds to an account Frank has established. Things go wrong when Dick accidentally loses the form, forcing him to print a new one in the bank while McCallister is there making the transfer, with Jane making the switch. McCallister realizes there are errors on the form and spots Dick. Finally, Dick holds McCallister discreetly at gunpoint, demanding he sign a paltry check, which he does. Dick reveals to Jane it was a ruse to get his signature, so Jane, an art major, can forge it.

The next day, McCallister is mobbed by reporters and former Globodyne employees, all praising him for his sudden "generosity". Dick shows up as vice president and hands him a prepared statement, which the CEO reads on live television. He is shocked to announce he has transferred $400 million to a trust fund to support Globodyne's defunct pension plan. A news report reveals the company's former employees (including the now-imprisoned Petersons) will get their pension checks from the fund, Dick's reputation is restored after handling the company's defunct competently and he evades indictment, and McCallister's net worth has been reduced to a mere $2,238.04.

Some time later, Dick's family drives a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible into the sunset. While Billy is teaching his parents Spanish, Dick's friend Garth drives up in a brand new Bentley Azure, excited to reveal that he has a new job with great benefits, at Enron, which the Harpers are skeptical of.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

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 Angry Caller (voice)
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 (uncredited)
Vincent Curatola as Dick's Neighbor (uncredited)
Jeff Garlin as Pyramid Tech CEO (uncredited)
Crystal the Monkey as Test Monkey
Luis Saguar as Héctor
Timm Sharp as Jack's Assistant
Laurie Metcalf as Phyllis (uncredited)
James Whitmore as Toy Store Security Guard (uncredited) (This was Whitmore's last film before his death 4 years later)
Ralph Nader as himself
Kym Whitley as Lucy

}}

Production

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.{{cite web|url=http://movieweb.com/carrey-is-having-fun-with-dick-and-jane/|title=Carrey is having FUN WITH DICK AND JANE|author=Brian B.|date=June 4, 2003|publisher=movieweb.com|access-date= May 9, 2016}} On July 14, 2003, it was announced that Cameron Diaz would star opposite Carrey.{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2003/07/14/Cameron-Diaz-to-star-with-Jim-Carrey/UPI-72221058198949/?st_rec=97391059583758|title=Cameron Diaz to star with Jim Carrey|date=July 14, 2003|publisher=upi.com|access-date=May 9, 2016}} The same day, it was also reported that the Coen brothers would rewrite the script.{{cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2003/07/14/coen-bros-will-write-cameron-diaz-and-jim-carrey|title=Coen Bros. will write for Cameron Diaz and Jim Carrey|author=Susman, Gary|date=July 14, 2003|publisher=ew.com|access-date=9 May 2016}} On July 3, it was announced that Sonnenfeld had left the film six weeks before the start of production.{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2003/07/30/Sonnenfeld-leaves-Dick-and-Jane/97391059583758/|title=Sonnenfeld leaves 'Dick and Jane'|date=July 3, 2003|publisher=upi.com|access-date=May 9, 2016}} Production was postponed until after Carrey had completed his next film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004).{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2003/film/news/parisot-set-for-fun-pic-with-carrey-1117893377/|title=Parisot set for 'Fun' pic with Carrey|author=Fleming, Michael|date= October 2003|publisher=variety.com|access-date=9 May 2016}}

In October, it was announced that Dean Parisot would replace Sonnenfeld as director and that production would start in June 2004. Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller worked on the script with Parisot. Diaz then left the film. On July 21, 2004, it was announced that she would be replaced by Téa Leoni.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2004/film/markets-festivals/see-jane-run-with-leoni-1117908120/|title=See 'Jane' run with Leoni|author=LaPorte, Nicole|date=21 July 2004|publisher=variety.com|access-date=9 May 2016}}

The film had more than two weeks of reshoots and numerous rewrites.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-04-ca-dickandjane4-story.html|title=Angst with Dick and Jane|author=Welkos, Robert W.|date=4 December 2005|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=9 May 2016}} David Koepp, Ed Solomon, Ted Griffin and the team of Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer all did uncredited rewrites.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-04-ca-credits4-story.html|title=Credit ascribed, denied|author=Horn, John|author2=Abramowitz, Rachel|name-list-style=amp|date=4 December 2005|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=29 May 2016}}

Soundtrack

The score by Theodore Shapiro written for the film was released on January 24, 2006.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Dick-Jane-Soundtrack-Theodore-Shapiro/dp/B000CQQHEU/ |title=Fun with Dick and Jane [Soundtrack]|work=Amazon}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Fun with Dick and Jane [Soundtrack]

| type = soundtrack

| artist = Theodore Shapiro

| cover =

| alt =

| released = January 24, 2006

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre =

| length =

| label = Varèse Sarabande

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

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{{track listing

| headline = Track listing

| writing_credits =

| title1 = Ameribank Robbery

| title2 = Job Calls

| title3 = Office Chaos

| title4 = Black Jack

| title5 = Main Title

| title6 = 51st Floor

| title7 = Jane Quits

| title8 = Quad Slide

| title9 = Race For The Job

| title10 = I.N.S.

| title11 = Illegal Immigration

| title12 = Sleeping Beauty

| title13 = Got The Yard Back

| title14 = The Insects Are All Around Us | writer14 = Mark Ramos Nishita |note14 = Performed by Money Mark

| title15 = Need A Good Wheelman

| title16 = Escape From The Headshop

| title17 = Bank Plan

| title18 = Grand Cayman Bank

| title19 = The Big Stall

| title20 = Gun Pull

| title21 = Starbucks Hit

| title22 = 400 Million Dollars

| title23 = End Credits

}}

=Other songs=

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

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

Reception

=Box office=

The film grossed $14 million on its opening weekend in third place when competing with King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe during the holiday season. 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, against a production budget of $100 million. It is one of twenty 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.{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/smallestdrops.htm?page=DROP3000&p=.htm | title=Smallest Second Weekend Drops | work=Box Office Mojo | access-date=March 27, 2014 }} The high earnings despite the criticism were partially attributed to the scheduled trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, and the film credited corporate scandals for inspiration.{{cite web |last1=Rabin |first1=Nathan |title=Fun With Dick And Jane |url=https://www.avclub.com/fun-with-dick-and-jane-1798201353 |website=AVclub Film |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103101408/https://film.avclub.com/fun-with-dick-and-jane-1798201353 |archive-date=3 November 2019 |language=en-us |date=21 December 2005 |quote=Dick And Jane's credits thank a rogue's gallery of corporate-scandal all-stars like Enron's Kenneth Lay for inspiration |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Nocera |first1=Joe |title=A Revenge Fantasy, Except It's Reality |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/business/a-revenge-fantasy-except-its-reality.html |website=The New York Times |quote=the movie is an Enron revenge fantasy. Which helps explain, I think, why this decidedly mediocre film has made more than $100 million at the box office so far. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528220022/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/business/a-revenge-fantasy-except-its-reality.html |archive-date=28 May 2020 |date=28 January 2006 |url-status=live}}

=Critical reaction=

On Rotten Tomatoes, Fun With Dick and Jane has an approval rating of 30% based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This muddled comedy has a few laughs, but never sustains a consistent tone."{{cite web|title=Fun With Dick and Jane (2005)|website= Rotten Tomatoes |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fun_with_dick_and_jane/|access-date=March 18, 2025}} On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web|title=Fun with Dick and Jane|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/fun-with-dick-and-jane |website= Metacritic }} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 |access-date= 2019-08-30 }}

Justin Chang of Variety positively described the film as "the rare Hollywood remake that, by daring to reinterpret its source material within a fresh political context, actually has a reason to exist".{{cite web|last=Chang|first=Justin|title=Fun with Dick and Jane|date=21 December 2005 |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/reviews/fun-with-dick-and-jane-3-1200519579/}} Manohla Dargis of the New York Times commented that "... the film never settles into a groove, zigging and zagging from belly laughs to pathos ..."{{cite web|last=Dargis|first=Manohla|title=Fun With Dick and Jane (2005) review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/292002/Fun-With-Dick-and-Jane/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626140124/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/292002/Fun-With-Dick-and-Jane/overview|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|date=2015|archive-date=2015-06-26}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "Recycles the 1977 comedy right down to repeating the same mistakes." Ebert was critical of the film's unexplored opportunities and wrote that it instead turns to "tired slapstick". He suggested viewers might watch The New Age instead, which he described as a superior film exploring a similar theme.{{cite web |date= December 20, 2005 |last1= Ebert |first1= Roger |author-link= Roger Ebert |title= Fun with Dick and Jane Movie Review (2005) |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fun-with-dick-and-jane-2005 |website= Chicago Sun-Times }}