‘Fun with Dick and Jane’ steals on to DVD

By David Germain

updated 3:00 p.m. ET April 10, 2006

“Fun With Dick and Jane”
In the 1970s, Jane Fonda and George Segal became the upper middle-class suburban equivalent of Bonnie and Clyde, going on a robbery spree to maintain their cozy lifestyle after financial hard times hit. Thirty years later, it’s Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni as the bandits in a remake that revs up the physical-comedy antics but loses much of the potency that made the original so easy for audiences to relate to. Carrey and Leoni are a husband and wife hurled into poverty after his big promotion turns sour when the corporation he works for collapses and he loses his job. The DVD has six deleted or extended sequences, including a long, slapstick-filled segment of Carrey’s smackdown with an elderly security guard (James Whitmore). Director Dean Parisot and screenwriters Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller also provide commentary. DVD, $28.95. (Sony) Read the review

“Wolf Creek”
Better than your average slice-and-dice horror flick is this grisly tale set in the vast emptiness of Australia, where three pals (Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi) run into bloody hell at the hands of a madman (John Jarratt) during a hike to a meteor site on a road trip. In the tradition of many slasher and horror flicks, the movie carries the tag line “based on a true story,” in this case the deeds of a killer who preyed on backpackers in Australia. The movie is available in the R-rated theatrical version or a grislier unrated edition that adds five minutes of footage. Magrath and Morassi join first-time writer-director Greg McLean for commentary, and the DVD has a deleted scene and a making-of featurette. DVD, $29.95. (Genius) Read the review

“An Unfinished Life”
On paper, this domestic drama of tragedy, grief, blame and reconciliation should have been a contender, starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman and directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“The Cider House Rules”). The long-delayed film, one of many leftovers caught in the crossfire during Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s bickering departure from Disney-owned Miramax, wound up dumped in theaters and generally forgotten last year. Redford stars as a reclusive rancher reluctantly reunited with the daughter-in-law (Lopez) he blames for his son’s death. Hallstrom offers DVD commentary, and the disc has a making-of segment and a featurette on training the bear used in the film. DVD, $29.99. (Miramax) Read the review

“Mission: Impossible”
With Tom Cruise’s third impossible mission debuting in theaters May 5, a new DVD edition arrives to mark the 10th anniversary of his first adventure as super-agent Ethan Hunt. Directed by Brian De Palma and based on the television series about an ace team of operatives who are masters of disguise and deception, “Mission: Impossible” puts Cruise on the run after his character is framed in the deaths of his team. The new DVD edition gathers a batch of featurettes examining stunts, characters and the 40-year-plus legacy of the franchise. And of course, the disc has a teaser trailer promoting “Mission: Impossible III. DVD, $19.99. (Paramount)

TV on DVD:

“The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Third Season” — The droll-meister of 1970s and ’80s television is back with year three of his first hit sitcom, in which he stars as a psychologist with a lovely wife (Suzanne Pleshette) and a wacky bunch of patients, colleagues and neighbors. The three-disc set has 24 episodes, plus commentary and a making-of featurette. DVD set, $29.98. (20th Century Fox)

“In Living Color: Season Five” — The final season of the sketch-comedy series features Chris Rock joining up with Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier and the rest of the show’s comic chameleons. The last 26 episodes are collected in a three-disc set. DVD set, $39.98. (20th Century Fox)

“The Merv Griffin Show: 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time” — This three-disc best-of collection features talk-show legend Griffin alongside a who’s who of world leaders and cultural icons. Among Griffin’s guests are past presidents (Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford); fallen heroes (Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy); media figures (Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters); and entertainers past and present (George Burns, John Wayne, Ingrid Bergman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington). DVD set, $29.98. (Alpha)

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