Here’s a really interesting film that completely flew under my radar. I missed the trailers, the poster, the press coverage and the actual cinema release. I had no idea it even existed until a couple of days ago. “The Joneses” stars David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth as a perfect upper-class American family who are moving into a new neighborhood. However, there is something odd about them… perhaps they are a little too good to be true.
You see, they are actually a sales team, arranged by a massive marketing firm who places “ideal” families into new communities in order to sell specific products. They are hired to integrate themselves into the community in order to subversively suggest new purchases to all of their new friends and neighbors. They sell the American dream to those who are still seeking it. The wife sells everything from dining room furniture to frozen hors d’oeuvres to jewelery to designer clothes. The husband sells his buddies cars and golf clubs. The daughter targets her high school friends with make up and perfume. You get the picture. They live a full time lie.
The movie has a lot to say about consumerism and the often conflicted morality of marketing. “The Joneses” is a smart film that never quite feels too far beyond the boundaries of plausibility. I could actually imagine this occurring somewhere in the USA as I write this review. It is well written and acted and absolutely deserves a look if you were as oblivious to its existence as I was.
