Fun with Dick and Jane

Ted Kotcheff, USA, 1977, 95 minutes

Jane Fonda shows off her under-used talent for madcap comedy in this classic 70's Screwball directed by Ted Kotcheff. Aerospace executive Dick (George Segal) and his wife Jane (Jane Fonda) are a prosperous couple enjoying the material benefits of modern America. That is until Dick is made redundant! Financially desperate, they turn to armed robbery in an attempt to raise funds. A hilarious series of incidents follows as they become increasingly liberated by their larcenous activities.

The lines between right and wrong and good and evil are joyfully crossed in this sharply written satire of American values. All sectors of society are attacked with equal relish. Segal and Fonda triumph in their roles, exhibiting some superb comic timing. Over the years, Segal in particular has shown himself to be one of cinema's greatest comic actors and it's a real disgrace the way in which he's been neglected in the last decade.

Review by Stephen Townsend
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93