The Joneses

 (2010)

by Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

The Joneses are a spectacularly charming family unit consisting of two 40ish parents (Demi Moore and David Duchovny) and two teens. They are all impossibly attractive and charismatic, and they are obviously prosperous. They live in the perfect house in a ritzy neighborhood. They own every conceivable high-end gadget, and are in the vanguard of every new trend. The kids love their parents; they all seem to enjoy each other's company; they never seem vulnerable to the tensions and problems that beset other families. Everyone wants to be just like them. The perfect family.

Except they aren't.

They're perfect, but they aren't a family.

They are a team of upscale marketers with annual contracts. Their job is to move into high-end neighborhoods and convince all members of the local nouveau riche to buy certain cars, golf clubs, wines, electronics, clothes, beauty products, etc. The woman circulates among the local society women at the trendiest salons. The man networks at the local country club. The kids throw the best parties in history. Once the Joneses become the most popular people in their area, and have befriended all the local tastemakers, they kick their marketing efforts into even higher gear, their ultimate goal: the ripple effect, when everyone in their market wants what they are flaunting.

The marketing effort is initially successful, but starts to collapse in some ways. There are two flies in the ointment:

First, the false family consists of real human beings with genuine human needs and desires which conflict with their marketing aims. After all, how many actors can play a role like that for 24 hours a day, for a year, all the while eschewing any real family life, any real romances, even any revelation of their true identities and natures? Luxury is nice, but it isn't everything.

Furthermore, their actions cause consequences in the real world. Teen parties generate drunk drivers. A quest to "keep up with the Joneses" leads some neighbors to despair.

Those two glitches in the marketing scheme, as detailed above, develop separately into two radical plot twists which come back-to-back, crammed into the film's final minutes, and the result is that the script swerves in the opposite direction from its previous route of dark, laid-back satire. First, there is a contrived tragedy of genuinely operatic proportions which generates a radical tone shift. Then there is an equally contrived happy ending which shifts the tone again. In the course of just a few minutes, the film moves from a Seinfeld level of unemotional and hug-free black comedy to an operatic level of sincere, hand-wringing tragedy, and then to a final sappy cop-out based on the premise that "love conquers all." It's as if some bold and edgy indie script had its ending secretly re-written by an out-of-work Hollywood hack. My take is that anyone who cared for the film's first hour would have to find at least one of those final twists to be false and most unwelcome.

Another problem with the film is that hypocrisy is inherent to its structure. While the film is essentially preaching a message against conspicuous consumption, it is simultaneously performing the same function as the fictional pseudo-family at its core: promoting a lot of upmarket products, using real brand names. In fact, this film did such a good job at product placement that I didn't care about all that sappy redemptive baloney at the end. I just knew that I hadda get me some o' that shit they were promoting! Anybody know how I can get a good deal on a new Audi?

The good news is that The Joneses is a film with important ideas, and it could provoke a lively post-film kaffeeklatsch. That in itself is refreshing in a time when most movies seem to be sequels written by the studios' marketing departments. The bad news is that the film tends to be flawed by inconsistencies in its tone and its message, and is simply too unengaging and too lightweight to carry the big ideas. 

Blu-Ray DVD

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

2 Roger Ebert (of 4 stars)
2.5 James Berardinelli (of 4 stars)
64 Rotten Tomatoes  (% positive)
58 Metacritic.com (of 100)

 

 

THE PEOPLE

   
6.6 IMDB summary (of 10)
   

 

 

 

THE BOX OFFICE

Box Office Mojo. It grossed a million and a half in arthouse distribution (217 theaters).

 

 

NUDITY REPORT

  • Amber Heard did a nude scene. Her breasts were clearly visible, but it was too dark to see anything else.

 

 

 

Google
 
Web www.scoopy.com

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C-

Good ideas, mediocre execution.