Two out of Five stars
Running time: 90 mins

A more accurate title would be Not Much Fun With Dick and Jane. Carrey and Leoni keep this watchable but it’s painfully light on laughs throughout.

What’s it all about?
If the title sounds familiar, that might be because it’s a remake of a (superior) 1977 comedy which starred George Segal and Jane Fonda.

Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni star as married couple Dick and Jane Harper, who appear to be living the perfect life until an Enron-style disaster hits Dick’s company and it collapses. With Dick unable to find a new job, the couple eventually turn to crime in order to make ends meet.

The Good
Carrey and Leoni make a fine comic team so it’s a shame that their talents are wasted on such a humourless script. At any rate, their performances are the only thing that keep the film watchable.

Director Dean Parisot has definite comedic form (he made Galaxy Quest) so perhaps the blame lies with Jim Carrey deciding to wear the producer’s hat. Allegedly, Carrey requested multiple takes in order to get the biggest laughs from each scene, but judging from the results, he needn’t have bothered.

The Bad
The main problem is that the film is badly written. There seem to be entire scenes missing and the plot lurches from one unfunny set piece to the next. Similarly, the climax is badly handled and deeply unsatisfactory - you’re likely to emerge from the cinema thinking, Was that it?

Worth seeing?
Unless you’re a massive fan of either Carrey or Leoni, you can probably give this a miss, especially if you’ve seen the trailer which has all the funny bits in it (both of them).