When great comedies like the 40 Year Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers are out on DVD I really have to wonder why anyone would be interested in Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie, Jim Carrey?s latest comedic offering, has very few real funny moments; not only that, but these few moments are spaced out very far from each other which in turn makes the movie seem very long and not very entertaining.

Carrey plays Dick, an innocent worker caught in the middle of corporate scandals. When Dick gets a promotion at his job the world is looking great and it seems as if everything is finally working out for him and his family. His wife, Jane, played by Tea Leoni in turn quits her job because she hates it. Sadly for Dick and Jane the prosperity ends abruptly when the company Dick works for goes bankrupt and everyone is fired. With no job, no money, and lots of bills to pay things start going really bad for the family. All of their possessions are taken from them and their grass is repossessed. On the verge of losing their house Dick and Jane decide to do what is necessary for survival. They begin committing crimes to get money and are willing to do anything necessary to get what they need.

This is when the various funny moments in the movie begin. As I stated above these moments are few and far between which in turns makes you feel very bored. When something funny happens it?s instantly recognizable as it lifts you out of complete boredom into a chuckle. The various funny scenes are mostly semi-enjoyable with the exception of a few which are very enjoyable. One of these scenes involves Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni?s characters helping illegal immigrants cross the border; another a chase in a Yugo. Those are actually the only two moments in the movie which really stood out to me. Other than that the other laughs are mediocre at best and I didn?t feel that Jim Carrey?s comedy worked for me.

One positive aspect of the movie was actually not related to comedy. In order to be able to justify Dick and Jane committing crimes, the director, Jean Parisot, had to portray a harsh reality for the family. Parisot does a great job showing the two character?s emotions and the situation into which the family is delving into. Carrey does a particularly good job with these scenes and the viewer can feel the pain and desperation Dick is feeling when he is no longer able to provide for his family.

The DVD features virtually no ?goodies? as I like to call them. The special features are a Gag Reel, Deleted Scenes, Press Junket Highlights, and Commentary with director Dean Parisot, and writers Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller. The fact is that the Gag Reel isn?t very funny. I was actually quite surprised when I saw the Gag Reel as I expected Jim Carrey to make random jokes while filming sometimes, but sadly he didn?t appear to do so in Fun with Dick and Jane. All you get is slight dialogue mishaps and other not very entertaining moments. The deleted scenes are not very entertaining and neither is the Press Junket Highlights, which is basically an interview with Carrey and co-star Tea Leoni. The commentary is standard on practically all DVD?s now.



As you can see, the DVD doesn?t feature much in terms of extras which in turns make the purchase of the movie even less desirable. The movie isn?t very good; the DVD has practically no good bonus features and you will probably not want to watch this movie more than once. My advice? Don?t purchase the DVD unless for some reason you really loved the movie. If you?re a casual movie watcher and are interested in watching Fun with Dick and Jane go ahead and rent the movie if you must but don?t buy the DVD.