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Film
Now in theaters: These comedies no laughing matter
By STEVE PERSALL
Published December 22, 2005
A pair of comedies got head starts on the holiday weekend by opening Wednesday to mixed critical reaction from the Times.
The remake of Fun with Dick and Jane (PG-13) was reviewed in Tuesday's Floridian, earning a C+
from film critic Steve Persall. He missed the social impact Jane Fonda and George Segal brought to the 1977 original involving suburbanites resorting to robbery to pay the bills.
"Today's trickle-down effects of dot-com and corporate shenanigans are tougher to explain and overcome, and therefore tougher to laugh about," Persall wrote. "If not for Jim Carrey's rubbery presence, the updated Fun with Dick and Jane wouldn't be funny at all."
Times correspondent Philip Booth enjoyed Steve Martin's sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (PG) even less. His review was published Wednesday on page 2B. Martin plays the father of the brood again, competing with a rich neighbor (Eugene Levy).
"Is there anything funnier or more touching than watching the madcap hijinks that result when the two unusually large families bang heads and then bond?" Booth asked in his C- review. "Well, yes, but it won't be found in Cheaper by the Dozen 2."
[Last modified December 21, 2005, 10:49:05]
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