Can this film keep up?
The Joneses, as we all know, are always that family that has the good stuff. Cool car, cute clothes, beautiful house, best landscaping, great job etc. In the movie The Joneses, this family is all that and a box of chocolate, however, they aren't really a family. Their a sales unit. Each member of the unit is a sales person who is responsible for selling certain products to their targeted consumer base. They pose as a happy family parading all the latest clothes, gadgets, cars, furniture and more to their neighbors and friends. Then, true to the well used phrase, everyone around them feels they need to purchase the same things...if not better. Turning 'Keeping up with the Joneses' a brilliant sales strategy.
Here's the thing, the plot summary of the story is better than the actual story director Derrick Borte tells here. It had such stupendous potential! A fun base story, great actors and a chilling truth to the tragedy of Americans' spending habits. Unfortunately, it just didn't quite do it for me. Demi Moore, while beautiful of course, was stiff and uncomfortable. David Duchovney was charming, but there just wasn't the chemistry needed between him and Demi. There were some really sad parts of the movie that were awkward and uncomfortable due to the lack of respect given the topic and the 'happy ending' was forced and anything but happy.
Motherly Advice: I had most of my filter settings on Medium and there were several scenes completely cut out (thank goodness, because due to some chit chat between characters the next morning about the missing scene you can be fairly certain it was quite inappropriate). 23 cases of swearing were removed and some drinking and drug use. However, there is still some heavy drinking shown, including a case of drunk driving and drinking by minors. With medium filtering there's plenty of implied premarital sex including extra-marital sex with an assumed minor which we can hear but not see in one scene. I'd suggest keeping this movie to adults as some of the topics both implied and otherwise were very 'adult' including a scene that shows the aftermath of a suicide. Even with filtering this movie made me feel icky. You heard right, I said Icky. Sometimes even implied things are too much.
Danielle'-Keeping Up With The Kids
PS. Did you know that the term 'Keeping up with the Joneses' is said to have referred to author Edith Wharton's father George Frederick Jones' family who were very wealthy in the 1800's. Note: Edith Wharton is the author of The Age of Innocence
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