Keeping up with the Joneses can be tough on white collar America!
When a new family move into a wealthy, white-picket suburb, their lives seem to be picture perfect to their unsuspecting neighbours. However, these Joneses have a secret. They are not a family at all, rather four individual salespeople grouped together in a “unit”, in order to infiltrate rich neighbourhoods and promote the latest goods in fashion, technology, and other businesses, to make massive sales. Their job is to pretend to have the perfect lifestyle, with plenty of success, whilst wearing certain clothes, using certain gadgets, and attending certain parties. Their progress is monitored by how much influence they have in making those around them buy the products.
As the “Joneses” become hugely successful amongst this new town, they begin to question the morality and ethics of their employment, as well as try to figure out what kind of relationship they have with each other, and what they want from life.
The Joneses is an entertaining film for a couple of reasons. First of all, the lead character of Steve Jones (David Duchovny), whose newbie attitude to this role of secret salesman makes for a brilliant evolution during the film, giving us some great comedy moments, as well as poignancy. Second of all, is the dynamic between him, and his fake wife Kate (Demi Moore). Their relationship is quite complex, as Kate is in fact the overall head of their unit, as well as a competitive saleswoman. Steve becomes confused about his feelings for Kate, as they begin to develop a form of intimacy that seems alien to both of them.
While the idea for the film was good, and it was an entertaining watch, it must be said that this film is confounding. On the one hand the makers make some very obvious comments about consumerism and capitalism, whilst working with a foundation that is essentially very superficial. Images of luxurious houses, fancy sports cars, and awesome golfing gear make up a significant part of this movie - it almost seems like an extended version of MTV Cribs!
This being said, the film contains a couple of dark moments that help its cause, and the central “family” dynamic makes for an interesting watch.
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