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87 MINUTES | OPENED DECEMBER 21: BOSTON COMMON + FENWAY + FRESH POND + CIRCLE + SUBURBS The rare remake that feels relevant in these post-Enron times, Dean Parisot’s updating of the 1977 George Segal/Jane Fonda film stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni as a typically overextended American couple. When he loses his job at an Enron-like company, they turn to a life of crime to support their upscale ways. Carrey tones down his shtick, and Leoni shows a flair for physical comedy, but they can’t rise above an anemic script. Interesting racial issues are left unexplored, including subplots where Carrey hangs out with itinerant workers and their young son speaks Spanish learned from the family maid. The capers, after a few bungled attempts, lack madcap humor, and the extended showdown between Carrey and his corrupt boss (a fantastically deadpan Alec Baldwin) feels like a lesson about what we learned from Enron. The most sincere moment comes during the credits, when the real-life corporate assholes get a special thank-you for making the film possible.
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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