If nothing else, one must credit
The Joneses for having the most inventive premise of any
movie in a long time. Taking the old adage “Keeping up with the
Joneses” to the height of modern excess, Derrick Borte’s first
feature tells the story of a team of “stealth marketers” who
move into affluent suburbs as a family in order to covertly
pitch all the hottest products to their neighbors. They work for
a company called, appropriately enough, LifeImage. Mom Kate
Jones (Demi Moore) models beauty products and throws parties
using frozen food for fellow housewives, dad Steve (David
Duchovny) shows off expensive golf equipment and a luxury car to
his new buds, and kids Jenn (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben
Hollingsworth) set all the trends at high school. Critics will
complain that the movie isn’t as edgy as it could’ve been and
doesn’t go much of anywhere, but I was fascinated enough by the
central idea and the characters that I was fully entertained for
its 96 minutes. The movie’s foremost victory is
that it paints a realistic setting for the comparatively
hyperbolic concept. As one who has lived in a land of
upper-middle class WASP families all my life, I had no trouble
buying into the Joneses’ surroundings and how malleable the
neighbors are when it comes to adopting new products. This
perceived authenticity, in turn, makes the title family more
believable—even when things get a little ridiculous—because
they’re built upon a foundation of truth. It’s the small things
that foster this sense of realism, like the fact that as one of
the neighboring couple goes deep into debt, the wife works as a
Mary Kayesque beauty products saleswoman. Intended juxtaposition
with the Joneses aside, isn’t this how every rich housewife
attempts to make extra cash?
There is also internal conflict
within the fictional Jones family. Long a bachelor, Steve gets
more from the family dynamic than he might expect, becoming very
attached to the idea his new housemates. This does not, however,
happen before he sleeps with Jenn, the young woman playing his
daughter. She’s the family’s loose-canon, going after another
older, married man once Kate puts a stop on sex with Steve.
Kate, on the other hand, is all business, tracking the family’s
sales every day and resisting any of Steve’s attempts to form a
more human relationship. Mick lingers somewhere outside of the
loop, struggling with his own personal issues, not the least of
which that he’s a closet homosexual. Critics will contend that
this is all fairly typical dysfunctional-family drama, and it
is. But something about these performances—excellent across the
board—rang true to me. While they’re conventional in some
respects, I found the Joneses thoroughly interesting.
The one part of the movie that
doesn’t really work is its depiction of the economic recession.
It relies solely on the aforementioned neighbors, Larry (Gary
Cole) and Summer (Glenne Headly), who are on spending themselves
away from exorbitant wealth and into government welfare at a
rapid rate. While she stands completely ignorant to the
warning-signs, he continues to buy Jones-pitched products
knowing that the tendency will lead them to financial ruin. This
story-thread adheres to the most conventional representation of
Americans in debt possible, so it’s pretty uninteresting. We’ve
seen it countless times on the news already; the movie should’ve
provided a more insightful, unique take on the issue. Its
lacking in this department proves considerably troublesome, too,
because Larry is a prominent player in the film’s conclusion.
Despite its hollowness in certain
areas, however, The Joneses is thought-provoking. Indeed,
one could’ve made a better film from this juicy premise, but the
same is true of most movies. Unlike others, I’m thankful for
what writer/director Boortz has given audiences, which is a
timely look at a story that may seem far-flung at first, but is
actually pretty true-to-life when you think about it.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 4.24.2010
The Joneses is rated R and runs 93
minutes.
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