Fun with Dick and Jane

So, Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni are starring in this remake of a 70's movie about an upstanding middle class couple that has to resort to robbery of all sorts in order to keep their lives together when the corrupt corporation that Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) works for goes under.

And......the hilarity insues? Well, it's funny. I mean, as funny as it can be, considering the wacky premise that doesn't leave too much room for real humor and instead lends itself to plain old goofiness.

And, I will say, the goofiness was fun for a bit, but in the end, I was left feeling like I'd just watched some kids movie that was thrown together rather quickly.

Jim Carrey put just enough "Jim Carrey" into this role to keep it goofy without being annoyingly "Jim Carrey." He dashed and darted and tumbled around the way he always does, found a few funny impersonation moments, and generally returned to his "In Living Color" days in a tasteful way.

Leoni did an excellent job as a wing(wo)man in this movie, but I would have liked to see someone a little...oh, I don't know.....cuter. Not in a physical way, but in a personality way. In this, she comes across as a little bit of a man in the relationship, being the pragmatic, rational one with little or no zaniness (of course, she's opposite the king of zany, so that might have something to do with it) to speak of. A cuter, bubblier actress would have been better suited for the movie.

At the end, they thank corporations for inspiring the movie....all of the ones in the list are corrupted or currently in litigation for corruption of all sorts....nice touch.

It's a fun and easily digestable movie without many highs or lows. It's a little darker than I expected, which turned out to be a good thing.

Also, really good music. The music choices are probably the most notable and enjoyable parts of the movie, and really suck you in when the story, directing, and acting doesn't. Jim Carrey also gets a few really cool moments where he just looks like an action star. It crossed my mind in a most surprising way, I'm just sitting there watching and BAM! Jim Carrey looks........cool??? Whhhaaaa??? Maybe there's a future in dramatic roles as a bad guy for him? Hhhmm....

Bored for about an hour on a saturday? go check it out (showing up 20 minutes late, I mean). Need something nice and easy to rent for strange people whose tastes you're not sure of? Rent it. Need to fill a space on your dvd rack or un-wobble an annoying chair? Buy it.