Movie: Fun with Dick and Jane

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Designated Hitter

Plot Overview

Globodyne's newly appointed VP of Communications Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) is suddenly tasked with explaining his company tanking. His wife Jane (Téa Leoni) counting on Dick's promotion for additional income has quit her job at the New Mark Travel Agency. The economy in 2000 is not at its most robust making it difficult for Dick now jobless in southern California to find employment suitable or other­wise. He's been “terminated, bankrupted, deported and black­mailed.” Dick and Jane out of desperation resort to an ill-advised entry into the world of petty crime but make a mess of it. Only a deus ex machina inter­vention is likely to get them back on track.

Ideology

Here we witness a dynamic of generations within the schema of (Prov. 30:15-16) “The horse­leach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.” The relentless grave draws people to it through their old age when they become (“Give!”) fundamentally dependent on others. And wombs keep churning out young'uns who until they mature are also (“Give!”) dependent. The young people are represented here by pampered son Billy (Aaron Michael Drozin) whose only complaint was the repossession of the television set. The older people were those who lost their pensions.

“The earth that is not filled with water” is a drained world (after Noah's flood) necessary for our survival. A good illustration of prepared ground is shown by the Harpers' bare yard after the repossession of their lawn. An elaboration can be had from Plato's description of Atlantis before its own cataclysmic flood:

Also whatever fragrant things there now are in the earth. whether roots, or herbage, or woods, or essences which distil from fruit or flower, grew and thrived in that land; also the fruit which admits of cultivation, both the dry sort, which is given us for nourishment and any other which we use for food—we call them all by the common name pulse, and the fruits which spoil with keeping, and the pleasant kinds of dessert, with which we console ourselves after dinner, when we are tired of eating—all these that sacred island which then beheld the light of the sun, brought forth fair and wondrous and in infinite abundance. (10)

“The fire that saith not, It is enough” is human (animal) metabolism that must be perpetually fueled. Here Dick has eggs Florentine for a congratu­latory break­fast at the home of his chief CEO Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin.) Jane cooks grade A steaks at home to mark the occasion. Their Mexican maid (Gloria Garayua) takes care of Billy at break­fast (“Blanca, can you make this little man some­thing to eat?”) Our novice criminals have a penchant for sampling the goods (“Are these non-fat muffins?”) at the convenience stores they rob. Jane and Billy attend a “mama and me lunch thing.” There are sundry business meals. At the travel agency a customer berates Jane about ordering kosher meals for a cruise. And there is the complaint, “How's a person supposed to survive and feed their family on that kind of salary?”

Production Values

“” (2005) was directed by Dean Parisot. Its screenplay was written by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller from a story by Gerald Gaiser. It stars Jim Carrey, Téa Leoni, Richard Jenkins and Alec Baldwin. Carrey's wild-man comedic style was at odds with the pervasive bitter tone. Other­wise, it was all straight­forward acting done adequately.

MPAA rated it PG–13 for brief language, some sexual humor and occasional humorous drug references. Runtime is 1½ hours. It has a cheap story­book feel to it.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

A first grade primer has hit the big screen, and if you've waited all your life to see it, I don't know what to tell you. It's cute and sappy. If you're into that kind of thing, you'll enjoy it in a nostalgic kind of way. Skipping it would be like skipping a grade in school you're not likely to miss.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Plato. Critias (360 bce). From David Edward, Atlantis Solved. © 2022 David Lady. Imprint: Frequency99, Inc. Ocals, Florida, 2022. Print.