The movie
"Fun with Dick and Jane" is on TV right now: I caught the first 30 min or so before DH flipped the channel & I went back to the kitchen. Anywho, I've seen it before, but it being on TV today reminded me of this group so much it was eerie!For those not familiar, Dick & Jane both work & live in a McMansion. Their son speaks mostly Spanish b/c he's being raised by a Spanish speaking nanny. Dick gets promoted, Jane quits her job, Dick looses his job, and hilarity ensues. After selling all their possessions, trading in the beemer for a used whatsit, and having their lawn repossessed, they decide to become criminals in order to be able to provide for their son. Everything works out in the end, they get most of their stuff back, and the bad evil corporate guy that 'caused it all' gets his come-uppance.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight...
At any rate, it's the lawn getting repossessed that gets me every time. First of all, just the thought of having a lawn repossessed cracks me up. They're rolling up the sod, putting flowers back into pots, the whole 9 yards. Needless to say, the neighbors are all out & about and intrigued by what's going on.
Even better is the way Jan reacts. She's flustered for a minute but then, quick lady that she is, starts picked up pots and shoving them to the workers screaming "This isn't right, none of it's right, this isn't what I ordered at all!!!" That way, you see, the neighbors won't know that her lawn is being repossessed.
Bear in mind that the neighbors all know Dick has no job. Several of them also lost their jobs, and are probably in the same boat. But Jane's doing her best to make it look like everything is fine.
Thing is this movie only did OK at the box office. It was funny, it was timely, all that good stuff, but America wasn't quite into it. My theory? It hits a little too close to home for the majority of our country. Forget living paycheck to paycheck: how many folks do we know are just one layoff away from having their lawn repossessed?
About as good as the lawn is the fact that once everything gets straightened out, I'm pretty sure D&J go back to being stuffaholics (i'ts been a while since I've seen it the whole way through). Now, if you've just been through times hard enough to take a shower in the neighbors sprinklers, why would you turn right back around and fill your house with a bunch of things that represent money you can't use to keep your own water on?
At any rate, the movie cracks me up when I see it, and now moreso than ever. See, I don't intend to ever end up like Dick or Jane.
Then again, who does?
October 29th, 2006 at 07:23 pm 1162149795
October 30th, 2006 at 03:38 pm 1162222733
But yeah, I can see why it wouldn't have done too well, because it would hit a bit too close to home.
October 30th, 2006 at 11:02 pm 1162249367