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The Joneses starts with a great pitch but ultimately fails to close the deal.
There's a nicely cynical streak at the heart of The Joneses, until Borte goes soft and lets the audience off the hook.
Mr. Borte conjures up a pleasant Stepford that runs less on robotic conformity than on endless, anxious competition. The key to the film is that it allows this life to have some real appeal.
A cheeky little commentary on modern consumption, The Joneses offers an uneasy balance between what's funny and what's not, staying just edgy enough to be uncomfortable while hitting its targets.
[Demi Moore is] She's one reason to see writer-director's Derrick Borte's zeitgeist fable The Joneses. Though she's not the only one.
It makes for good, although not great, satire of the consumer culture that helped wreck the economy.
Even with decent turns from the leads, and a usefully soulful one from Gary Cole as a neighbor inclined to do the proverbial keeping up, the film can't always manage to justify itself as an actual movie instead of merely a clever concept.
Dawn of the Dead made a savvier commentary on consumerism and materialism.
A darkly comical satire about affluence might seem a bit ill-timed during a global recession. But a strong cast makes this film very watchable, even as it slips into melodrama.
Borte, directing his first film, does a smooth, confident job, so that even though the set-up isn't quite plausible you're happy to go along with it.
Think of it as an inverted Truman Show, with David Duchovny and Demi Moore as yuppified secret salesmen hawking an idealized suburban lifestyle while incognito.
Way to kill that dark comedy you were going for.
full review at Movies for the Masses
A missed opportunity from 2010 that could have been so timely and brilliant that it's almost painful to watch.
Taken at surface level, The Joneses does succeed in presenting its attack on consumerism; and for that alone it sparks up talking points and will leave you to think about exactly why you bought the model of car or mobile phone you did.
Plays it far too safe and ends up not saying anything at all.
We know by now that blatant, senseless consumption is bad, harmful even. But the biggest surprise about The Joneses is its skillful avoidance of any meaning or significance whatsoever.
A fine, sneaky satire ... undercut by an awful ending, one that smells as if someone (a corporation perhaps?) got their hands on it.
The film's fatal flaw is Borte's refusal to give his satire the darker, uncomfortable edge it needs to give his lesson some impact.
This cautionary tale depicts consumers who believe they deserve stuff, whether or not they can pay for it. Rarely is this kind of truth seen onscreen in such a subtle and entertaining film.
The Joneses is somewhat entertaining ... because of its deliciously clichéd suburban location ... good acting and creative premise.
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