Fun with Dick and Jane is a take on the Dick and Jane children's books; George Segal and Jane Fonda play the title characters who've always played by the rules and done everything society's told them to do. Just when they've incurred $70 grand in debt for home improvements, George gets fired. They try everything they can think of to get jobs and money, but when they reach the end of their rope, they turn to crime.This movie isn't made to be taken seriously, so don't expect a dramatic heist film. This is a fun frolic through the 1970s with a few robberies along the way. George and Jane bounce off each other well, and they let the lines flow naturally, which makes the farcical situations even funnier. Hollywood remade the film in 2005, but it wasn't nearly as funny as the original.

I had never heard of "Fun with Dick and Jane" until the remake came out. Now that I've seen the original, I really like it. George Segal and Jane Fonda play a yuppie couple whose well-to-do lifestyle suddenly gets interrupted when he loses his job. Realizing that they have no other choice, the two of them soon turn to theft to survive. But then there's his former employer (Ed McMahon)...The remake changed the story a little bit, updating the story so that it looked at the era of Enron, Adelphia, Worldcom, etc. This one is about about a simple firing and how the couple seeks revenge, with a lot of funny stuff. You're bound to love the trick that they pull at the end. A really fun movie.Half-cocked indeed.

From director Ted Kotcheff (Rambo: First Blood), I was very interested to see the original version of this comedy film, remade with Jim Carrey. It is the same format, executive engineer Dick Harper (The Cable Guy's George Segal) is unexpectedly fired by Charlie Blanchard (Ed McMahon) just after finishing a new swimming pool, and he and his wife Jane (Jane Fonda) are in financial trouble. They try to cut down their expenses, find new jobs and ways to get money, and even with unemployment benefits it is uncertain they can keep the house. There is nothing for it for Dick and Jane, when they gain the confidence to they begin robbing drug and liquor stores. Doing this they seem to be surviving and maintaining their social status, it is only a question of whether they will be caught or get away with it all. Also starring Richard '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 Jim Weeks, Sean Frye as Billy Harper, James Jeter as Immigration officer and Maxine Stuart as Blanchard's secretary and Fred Willard as Bob. Segal and Fonda make a good duo, there are more amusing jokes than in the remake, it is a pleasant feel-good (or bad that they resort to robbery) comedy classic. Worth watching!

Dick and Jane Harper are happy and very well off; they have a dog, a son, a great house and Dick has a high-powered job as an aerospace company executive. However when the company hits a bumpy patch, Dick is laid off and very quickly the family is running up more debt than they can handle. Dick keeps trying to find work and even Jane leaves the family home to try and get a regular job type job. However things do not go that well and, as their possessions start to get repossessed, they get increasingly desperate.Recently the subject of a remake (which I never bothered to see) this comedy is a sort of satire on the American dream and the attitudes of big business. Or at least that is what others have said. Personally I think it has a vague swipe at this but mainly it just settles for being a gentle caper that draws laughs from the unlikely descent of the middle classes into crime. It isn't anywhere near as sharp or caustic as I would have liked it to be but it flows along cheerily enough and entertained me reasonably well. Big laughs are few and far between but it is nicely comic for the most part.Given the light material, I thought this was mostly down to the lead pair working with it well. Segal is reasonably good but his strength is in his chemistry with Fonda. She is good and has a nice comic touch. Support is generally solid if unspectacular with turns from Mcahon, Garcia and others but generally the film is carried by the leads. Direction feels a little dated now as the film has a very 1970's look and, without a sharp edge, it doesn't feel as relevant as it should do.Overall this is a comic little film that is amusing and works thanks to easy performances by the lead pair. I would have preferred it to have had a much sharper edge to have blended satire with the comedy but it was still an entertaining little film albeit one that won't stick in my mind or have me coming back for repeat viewings.