Ok, I have to give it to whoever came up with this idea. Hollywood loves liberal values. They hate almost anything not ultra-green, liberal, or anti-patriotic. There are exceptions, but they are rare these days. There have been numerous films depicting all the above, and every one of them has failed miserably. But that might change with this film.
The Joneses is a salute to the corporate greed that Hollywood hates with a burining passion (which is funny as they are a mega-corporate industry). Corporations are so desperate for your money, and so evil, that commercials on television, radio, magazines, video games, and on DVD's just isn't good enough any more. Now it's time to go direct. [funnily enough the movie is a big commerical itself]
The Joneses are a stealth marketing team. A fictional family set up to grab the attention of every family around them. They have it all. Cars, clothes, whatever widget and gadget you could ever want. And they are more than willing to let you know they have it. Just so everyone else will buy it to.
The film is dependant on the fact that you accept the concept of 'I want what they have'. A pretty easy concept to sell. If everyone thinks your grass is greener, they will want it more than their own.
The drama of the story, because a movie based on just corporate greed is hard to sell, is what about the people in this fake family? How can they deal with the stress of being the center of attention based on just what they have and not who they are?
David Duchovny looks to be likeable and the key shred of decency in this corporate swindle machine. Demi Moore is the cold-hearted "management", who only cares about the bottom line and keeps Duchony at arms distance.
The questions of the movie are simple. Can 4 people who pretend to be a family be a family? Can they deal with the pressures and difficulty of getting along, while coercing everyone around them to buy buy buy? What happens if they rally together, but the sales drop?
Generally this looks like a mediocre movie. Not the best or worst of the year, nor any year. But it has a gimmick. It looks slick and has lots of toys. Hollywood is banking on your desire to see the toys, and get a feel of the "good life", so they can swindle you out of your money while telling you how bad OTHER corporations are.
I just love the 2-faced nature of the film.
Oh, and by the way. The "good life", the people worth selling to and pretty much the only apparent people on the planet are White. Other than 1 (apparently) gay Black character - stereotypically a hairdresser - there isn't another person of color in a speaking role that I am aware of or that I saw in the credits of the film. I guess Hollywood thinks people of color are too busy watching music videos, getting high, and going to jail to be successful enough to be characters in the film, or to even afford a ticket to see it. Just an observation of mine.
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