Carrey on having fun; THE BIG PICTURE.

Byline: Philip Key 

MOST critics have not liked this film, indeed they have generally given it their lowest ratings. There are reasons.

For one thing it is a remake of a 1977 comedy starring Jane Fonda and George Segal which even then was little regarded' and for another it stars Jim Carrey, the mugging American comedian who seems to annoy people.

I went with both prejudices but to my surprise ended up rather enjoying the film. It has a simple plot about an executive (Carrey) who is preparing for promotion when the firm he works for goes belly-up due to a financial scandal.

Carrey soon has no job, no income and is falsely accused of fraud. The fiddling chief executive (Alec Baldwin), meanwhile, escapes with all the money.

There are shades of the Enron scandal here and it is probably no surprise that several Enron workers get thanks in the credits. As with the earlier movie, Carrey and his wife (Tea Leoni) eventually turn to crime to make up for the lost funds.

Although a comedy with Carrey in full over-acting mode, the film has an interesting dark mood, revealing the uglier side of the American Way. Carrey finds it difficult to get a job, any job, while his wife tries to keep their plight a secret from the neighbours.

Carrey's job-searching and eventually that of the wife is sad to behold and only too true to executives, not only in the US but over here.

The corporate life is what is under attack where the Fat Cats escape to their pleasant life styles and the underlings suffer. When scandal strikes, the paper shredders are in full use.

The first half of the movie has its slapstick, funny moments and the desperate situation of the Carrey family keeps you interested.

Where the pace slips rather dangerously is with one of those difficult-to-understand capers in which Carrey and a fellow executive (Richard Jenkins) work out of a financial plan to prevent CEO Baldwin getting all the firm's cash.

It's very involved and not all that believable as the rival groups converge on the bank where the dirty (but legal) deal is about to go down.

There is a feel-good ending (equally unbelievable) which will perk up audiences but which may be too late to prevent the depression of the earlier action.

Despite Carrey's over-the-top facial antics, he gives a fine performance as a man driven to the edge by financial woes and Tea Leoni is spot on as the executive wife with (thankfully) a sense of humour.

The script by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller deftly mixes comedy with drama and director Parisot gives the show some nice touches, the opening sequence being particularly effective with its stop action and comedy titles.

I don't recall the earlier film and I am not a huge fan of Carrey. But this is a movie which deserves close attention and some praise for its courage.

Fun With Dick and Jane (Cert 12a)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Tea Leoni, Alec Baldwin, Richard Jenkins and Gloria Garayua, director Dean Parisot. 90 mins.

Rating: ***

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CAPTION(S):

Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni play a married couple forced to turn to a life of crime