Movie Review - The Joneses

The Joneses (2010)

Starring David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Amber Heard, Ben Hollingsworth, Gary Cole, and Lauren Hutton 

Directed by Derrick Borte

The expensive cars.  The latest electronics.  The hippest clothing.  It takes a lot of cash to keep up with the trendsetting Joneses.  And in first time writer-director Derrick Borte's satire on the popular catchphrase, he attempts to showcase the ridiculousness of our consumer-driven society.  Unfortunately, he doesn't quite succeed, but it's an admirable attempt that might have worked a little better if only it had gotten a little dirtier and grittier rather than playing things so light-heartedly. 

When the Joneses move into a ritzy suburban neighborhood, they're immediately fawned over by the neighbors.  Steve and Kate Jones (David Duchovny and Demi Moore) and their son and daughter (Ben Hollingsworth and Amber Heard) seem to be the perfect family.  They have it all and they're not afraid to flaunt it.  Little do the neighbors know that this foursome isn't a family at all -- they've been hired by a consumer products company to sell items to the unwitting neighbors.  As is to be expected, the best laid plans don't go so well for the Joneses and their scheme soon runs a risk of being uncovered.

The premise in The Joneses is quite promising.  It's an intriguing idea and one that actually (and surprisingly) doesn't seem too inconceivable when it appears onscreen.  The problem lies in everything else going on outside of the premise.  Side stories involving the sex lives of the two kids seem superfluous and completely unnecessary and certainly take away from the driving force of the satire.  A focus on the Joneses next-door neighbors, the Symonds (Gary Cole and Glenne Headley), seems too jokey and farcical, lacking any sense of realism.  These tangents that writer Borte takes certainly impede his true focus -- his taking on of our materialistic society -- and it really causes the film to seriously falter.

The film looks good which is certainly commendable seeing as how this is Borte's debut.  And he absolutely culls some decent performances from Duchovny and Moore.  However, the flaws mentioned above greatly outweigh the strengths.  I was, for the most part, very bored watching The Joneses and with as interesting a premise as it could have been, it is an unfortunate disappointment.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-