Fun with Dick and Jane

In 2000, Dick Harper gets promoted to Vice President of Communications for the major media corporation Globodyne. He convinces his wife Jane to quit her job as a travel agent to spend more time with their son Billy, as Dick's salary would be able to cover their expenses. However, during an interview on television on his first day, he discovers his CEO covertly sold 80 percent of his shares in the company; just then, Globodyne is accused of "perverting the American dream" by presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Simultaneously, all of the company's stocks drop to zero, the firm is declared bankrupt, and everyone, including Dick, loses their jobs and pensions. Dick tries to confront CEO Jack McCallister, but he smugly dismisses his former employee and flies away in a helicopter. Breaking the news to his family that night, Dick tries to assure them that he can simply find a new vice president position. However, he soon finds that Globodyne's collapse has sent the overall economy into a recession, dashing any hope of finding a lucrative new position. In addition, the television interview has tarnished his reputation as being incompetent, rendering him unhirable in his field of profession. Even worse, Jane discovers that, because their pension and all their savings and investments were tied up in Globodyne's now-worthless stock, the family now has no assets and can no longer afford their mortgage payments. Dick and Jane get jobs as a retail associate and a workout instructor, respectively, but Dick is fired for harassing an elderly customer and Jane is dismissed after unintentionally assaulting a client. Their utilities are soon cut off, and the couple have no choice but to pawn their valuables to their maid and take illegal off-the-books employment; this results in Dick being deported to Mexico by federal immigration officers and having to sneak back across the border while Jane suffers a severe allergic reaction while testing makeup. The last straw comes when the bank sends them an eviction notice; Dick turns to crime and persuades his wife to help him. After a few mishaps, they rob a head shop. They go on to have a few nightly robbing sprees, becoming more comfortable and professional, even stealing from people who wronged them during their job search, and eventually retire their entire debt. For their final heist, they come up with a complex scheme to steal from a local bank. All goes as planned until the Petersons – another Globodyne couple – make an amateurish attempt to rob the same bank. The Petersons are quickly arrested, and Dick and Jane lose their chance to rob the place but take advantage of the hysteria to escape. Watching a news report on the arrests of the Petersons and other former Globodyne employees who desperately turned to crime, the Harpers decide to cease their criminal lifestyle. However, Dick finds that his interview with Ralph Nader has caused him to be indicted for his unwitting role in the company's collapse. Drowning his sorrows at a millionaire's club, he stumbles upon the drunk former CFO of the company, Frank Bascombe. When he and Jane confront him, Frank remorsefully admits Jack had planned everything from the beginning: during Dick's television interview, Jack diverted all of Globodyne's assets and then dumped the entire stock, thus ruining the company and its employees and investors, and leaving Dick and Frank to take the blame, while embezzling a $400 million fortune and getting off scot-free. Frank, about to go to prison for 18 months for his role in the scheme after failing to expose Jack's crimes, got $10 million in hush money from him. Frank tells him Jack plans to transfer the $400 million to an offshore account and creates a plan with Dick and Jane to intercept the transfer, rerouting the funds to an account Frank has established. Things go wrong when Dick accidentally loses the form, forcing him to print a new one in the bank while Jack is there making the transfer, with Jane making the switch. Jack realizes there are errors on the form and spots Dick. Finally, Dick holds Jack discreetly at gunpoint, demanding he sign a paltry check, which he does. Dick reveals to Jane it was a ruse to get his signature, so Jane (who studied calligraphy in college) can forge it. The next day, Jack is mobbed by reporters and former Globodyne employees, all praising him for his sudden "generosity". Dick shows up as vice president and hands him a prepared statement, which the CEO reads on live television. He is shocked to announce he has transferred $400 million to a trust fund to support Globodyne's defunct pension plan. A news report reveals that the company's former employees (including the now-imprisoned Petersons) will get their pension checks from the fund, Dick's reputation is restored for his competent handling of the company's failure, he evades indictment, and Jack's net worth has been reduced to a mere $2,238.04. Some time later, Dick's family drives a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible into the sunset. While Billy is teaching his parents Spanish, Dick's friend Garth drives up in a brand new Bentley Azure, excited to reveal that he has a new job with great benefits, at Enron, which the Harpers are skeptical of.

Plot from Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)CC BY-SA 4.0