After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it – but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.
The corporate-satire framing gives this Carrey-Leoni remake a nominal reason to exist, but critics found it tonally erratic and largely squandered — landing a laugh here and there before retreating into lazy physical comedy rather than following through on its Enron-era premise.
“the rare Hollywood remake that, by daring to reinterpret its source material within a fresh political context, actually has a reason to exist”
Justin Chang·Variety
“the film never settles into a groove, zigging and zagging from belly laughs to pathos”
Manohla Dargis·New York Times
“Recycles the 1977 comedy right down to repeating the same mistakes.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Comedy, Crime
After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it – but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.
The corporate-satire framing gives this Carrey-Leoni remake a nominal reason to exist, but critics found it tonally erratic and largely squandered — landing a laugh here and there before retreating into lazy physical comedy rather than following through on its Enron-era premise.
“the rare Hollywood remake that, by daring to reinterpret its source material within a fresh political context, actually has a reason to exist”
Justin Chang·Variety
“the film never settles into a groove, zigging and zagging from belly laughs to pathos”
Manohla Dargis·New York Times
“Recycles the 1977 comedy right down to repeating the same mistakes.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Comedy, Crime