"The Joneses"

"The Joneses" is based on an interesting concept: if you are popular, and people see you wearing, using and buying certain products, they will want those products as well. And, to no one's surprise, the concept works.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones (Demi Moore, "Mr. Brooks," and David Duchovny, TV's "Californication") live with their two perfect children (Amber Heard, TV's "Hidden Palms," and Ben Hollingsworth, TV's "The Beautiful Life") in a gigantic house in the suburbs. They have it all - or do they? Turns out that rather than being an actual family, they are each separate businesspeople working for the same company, living together in a family "unit." The two children, who are actually ages 21+, attend high school; Mr and Mrs. Jones live a life of leisure, getting manicures (the Mrs.) and playing golf all day (the Mr.). Their objective is not to own the latest and greatest toys, as provided to them by their company, but to SELL these "toys" to their friends and neighbors. It is product placement, pure and simple, and the best part is that their friends don't even know that they are being conned. Mr. Jones is new to this family unit, but he is Mrs. Jones' sixth "husband," and she is determined to make him successful so that their unit will succeed.

The cast in this movie is great, especially David Duchovny and Demi Moore. Moore plays a very business-driven character, and she makes it clear to Duchovny that she is all business, all the time - "This bed is so soft and would be nice to sleep in," Duchovny says near the beginning of the movie, referring to Demi's king-size bed, and we later see him sleeping in the guest bedroom. Their two "kids," Hollingsworth and Heard, also have nice roles, and they have other subplots going on outside the "family business." Together, they pull off "rich suburban family" effortlessly, and it is this that makes their neighbors not only want their stuff, but want to be them.

I would say Yes, definitely see this movie. It is unlike any movie I have seen in the past few years, and the concept is interesting. It's a lot darker of a movie than I thought it would be, being that it's about consumerism, but there are a lot of comedic parts as well. There's a moral lesson to be learned here too, and the end of the movie leaves the audience pondering exactly what the cost is, both emotionally and money-wise, in "keeping up with The Joneses."

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