A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Another week, another remake, this time of Fun with Dick and Jane, a not-very-good redoing of the not-very-good 1977 movie, which starred George Segal and Jane Fonda.  This time out, the roles are taken on by the fading Jim Carrey, and Tea Leoni, who play a married couple who fall on hard times financially and have to turn to crime to pay the bills.  Director Dean Parisot didn't manage to recreate the magic he found with his last film, Galaxy Quest, though at least he made another wise choice of composer, with Theodore Shapiro brought on board.  Shapiro has become typecast in comedies, which is a shame, but he's certainly good at them.  My first exposure to him was with his charming score for David Mamet's brilliant State and Main (the only previous score of his to have been released), and since then he's scored a number of high-profile comedies, including Starsky and Hutch and Dodgeball.  

Hopefully Shapiro will escape the shackles of comedy before long, but until then, if he keeps up to the same standards, I won't be worrying too much.  Fun with Dick and Jane is a typical madcap comedy score, with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in.  The electric guitar-laden heist music at the start is very effective, if rather familiar.  The main title piece (oddly, the fifth on the album) is a lovely lighthearted romp, with some charming orchestration.  There's some Morricone spaghetti western nods in "Illegal Immigration"; and some really pleasant, heartfelt romantic moments in "Sleeping Beauty" and "Got the Yard Back".  There's even a lovely finale in "400 Million Dollars" which might rot the teeth but is genuinely lovely.  Much of the music is performed by a band (keyboards, guitars, drums, bass) and is really funky, perhaps the way you might expect the score for Ocean's Eleven to sound (but doesn't).  

The usual pitfalls of comedy scores (short tracks, lots of ideas coming from all over the place) aren't avoided, but the base material is so good they can be forgiven.  It's hardly a substantial work, but Shapiro deserves much congratulation for injecting so much energy into a movie like this one, and credit also to Varese Sarabande for releasing the album (you wouldn't expect to see a score album from a film like this).  It's a delightful 35-minute album, just the right length, and I look forward to Shapiro's future scores with much anticipation.

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Tracks

1. Ameribank Robbery (2:27)
2. Job Calls (1:05)
3. Office Chaos (1:29)
4. Black Jack (2:35)
5. Main Title (2:35)
6. 51st Floor (:30)
7. Jane Quits (:33)
8. Quad Slide (:18)
9. Race for the Job (1:34)
10. INS! (1:30)
11. Illegal Immigration (1:37)
12. Sleeping Beauty (1:33)
13. Got the Yard Back (1:35)
14. The Insects Are All Around Us Money Mark (2:22)
15. Need a Good Wheelman (:33)
16. Escape from the Headshop (:51)
17. Bank Plan (1:45)
18. Grand Cayman Bank (2:39)
19. The Big Stall (1:21)
20. Gun Pull (1:49)
21. Starbucks Hit (1:01)
22. 400 Million Dollars (1:53)
23. End Credits (1:41)