''Fun with Dick and Jane'' is a 1977 American

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

starring

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

and

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Jane Fonda, various accolades including two ...

. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, the film is caustically critical of the "anarchy" of the American way of life. The character names come from the '' Dick and Jane'' series of children's educational books, and the title is taken from the title of one of the books in the series.

Plot

Dick Harper is a successful aerospace engineer in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where he and wife Jane have a lovely house, with a swimming pool and new lawn under way. Jane takes care of their son, Billy. Because of financial reversals at the business, however, Dick's boss, Charlie Blanchard, suddenly fires him. Dick and Jane owe more than $70,000 and abruptly find themselves with no income. Their attempts to find other gainful employment fail. Jane lands a fashion modeling appearance at a restaurant that becomes a fiasco. Dick ends up applying for unemployment and food stamps, while Jane's wealthy parents, rather than helping, advise them to use this experience positively as a life lesson. Unable to come up with any other solution to their problems, Dick and Jane turn to a life of crime. They make an effort to select their victims judiciously – robbing the telephone company, for example, so making the customers in line cheer. In time, Dick and Jane weigh their guilty consciences against their needs, trying to get back their old lives and stay out of jail. They make the decision to "retire" from robbery. However, almost immediately they see Charlie Blanchard on television, testifying in front of a Congressional committee. After realizing that Charlie keeps two hundred thousand dollars in his office as a

slush fund A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...

(used to pay off lawmakers), Dick and Jane decide to rob Charlie. At a gala at Dick's old firm, Dick and Jane break into Charlie's office, crack the safe, and steal the money. They leave his office and make it to the main floor of the building, but the building's security guards alert Charlie before the couple can leave. They are seen guarding all the exits. Dick admits to Charlie that he and Jane have stolen his money. However, they also explain that Jane has called the police about the theft. Knowing that the $200,000 might be confiscated by the authorities and lead to further unwanted investigations, Charlie tells the arriving police that no crime was committed and walks the couple safely out of the building. A press release announces that Dick has been hired to be president of the firm, as Charlie has resigned.

Cast

as Dick Harper *

as Jane Harper * Ed McMahon as Charlie Blanchard * Dick Gautier as Dr. Will * Allan Miller as Loan company manager * Hank Garcia as Raoul Esteban * John Dehner as Jane's father * Mary Jackson as Jane's mother * Walter Brooke as Mr. Weeks * Sean Frye as Billy *

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wa ...

as Bob * John Brandon as Pete Winston *

Thayer David Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey; March 4, 1927 – July 17, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was best known for his work on the ABC serial ''Dark Shadows'' (1966–1971), and as the fight promoter Miles ...

as Deacon * Burke Byrnes as Roger * Dewayne Jesse as Robber *

Anne Ramsey Angelina Anne Ramsey-Mobley (March 27, 1929 – August 11, 1988) was an American actress. She is best known for her film roles as Mama Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985) and as Mrs. Lift in ''Throw Momma from the Train'' (1987), the latter of wh ...

as Employment applicant * Jon Christian Erickson as Transsexual *

Gloria Stroock Gloria Jane Stroock is an American actress. She is best known for her supporting role in the television series ''McMillan & Wife'' as Maggie, the secretary of lead character Stewart McMillan. Early years Stroock is the daughter of James Stroock, ...

as Mildred Blanchard * Art Evans as Man at Bar * Richard Foronjy as Landscape Man * Harry Holcombe as Pharmacist *

James Jeter James Jeter, also known and credited as James Jeeter, (September 15, 1921 – March 4, 2007) was an American film, stage and television actor. He was known for playing the recurring role of blacksmith Hans Dorfler in the American historical dr ...

as Immigration Officer * Thalmus Rasulala as Food Stamp Man *

James Reynolds James or Jim Reynolds may refer to: Arts and entertainment * James Reynolds (artist) (1891-1957), American writer, painter, illustrator, set designer and costume designer *James Reynolds (actor) (born 1946), American actor * James Reynolds (compose ...

(''uncredited'') as Johnson, Income Maintenance Technician * Jay Leno (''uncredited'') as Carpenter

Reception

The film was Columbia's third highest-grossing film in the US in 1977 with rentals returned from the United States and Canada of $13.6 million. The film received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has a 50% rating based on reviews from 14 critics.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' gave it 2.5 out of 4, and wrote: "This stuff is funny enough, but somehow it's too easy. It's situation comedy, when the movie's earlier moments seemed to be promising us a hard-boiled commentary..."

Remake

The film was remade in 2005 with the same title, starring

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy t ...

and Téa Leoni.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fun With Dick And Jane 1977 films 1970s crime comedy films American satirical films American crime comedy films American heist films Films directed by Ted Kotcheff Mordecai Richler Termination of employment in popular culture Films scored by Ernest Gold Films with screenplays by Jerry Belson 1970s heist films Columbia Pictures films 1977 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films