As Americans, we are consumed with consumption. We want colossal, extravagant toys and accessories, and we want them pronto. We are constantly slapped in the face with billboards splashed with images of too-skinny models parading the latest cheese snacks to purchase by the mega-case at your local supermarket. Our celebrities are constantly touting what jeans they are wearing and who designed their wristwatches. Bright and blazing brand names fill our television programs and movies in a practice known as “product placement.” We are incessantly being sold something.
The Joneses presents a world where these practices are taken to the next logical level. What if a walking, talking commercial moved into your neighborhood? This is a high concept film whose outlandish ideas aren’t too far from reality.
Meet the Joneses. Steve Jones (David Duchovny) and his beautiful wife, Kate (Demi Moore), have just moved into an affluent gated community with their two perfect children. They have lovely furniture and gigantic televisions and sports cars to make the neighbors go gaga. And that is just the point. The Joneses are actually salesmen of the 21st century, employed by a sly organization who have pioneered the idea of “Self-Marketing.” The idea is that if the beautiful and popular people buy it then it must be good, and the rest of the sheep will follow along. Steve is fresh to the game and, once his sales figures come in, seems a natural at it. He soon finds that manipulating people is the easy part. It’s avoiding actual human connections that is difficult.
First time director Derrick Borte does a masterful job with this material and shows no signs of being a novice. Everything starts light and fanciful before taking some serious and dramatic turns that really focus the film. Borte shows real skill in changing gears and tone seamlessly.
The performances from Duchovny and Moore are first rate as well. Duchovny is playful and natural as Steve, hitting the somber stuff dead on, while Moore seems genuine as a corporate shill lost in her ambition. The two stars share a tangible chemistry that gives the film its heart.
There is a notable performance by Gary Cole as the sad and secretive neighbor to the Joneses. Cole has done some wonderful comedic work in the past (Office Space, Talladega Nights), but gives an uncharacteristically reserved performance here that really resonates.
Not everything is golden, though. Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth as the two “children” in the family don’t really add anything to the proceedings. Both underdeveloped characters are given subplots that bog the film down and serve only to complicate matters.
The Joneses is loaded with “product placements” pulling double duty. Even as you watch a movie about an unsuspecting populace being bombarded with brand names, you are unsuspectingly being bombarded with brand names. This is a film making a statement about manipulation that can’t help but to manipulate a bit itself. It would be interesting to see what these companies paid the production to have their products showcased. It’s all about “The Numbers” you know.
3.5 out of 5.
