Keeping Up with the Joneses – movie review

Remember Mr and Mrs Smith, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie played a pair of married assassins working for different sides? Screenwriter Michael LeSieur had that in his head while he was writing the screenplay for Keeping Up with the Joneses, a rather daft spy comedy.

An ordinary suburban couple, Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher), discover it’s not easy keeping up with their impossibly gorgeous and ultra-sophisticated new neighbors, the Joneses (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot). That is especially the case when they discover that Mr and Mrs “Jones” are really covert operatives. For the first time in 11 years, the Gaffneys find themselves facing a challenge that all parents eventually face: the empty nest. With their kids away for the first time at summer camp, the Gaffneys hope to spend some quality alone time and reignite the romantic fire that has started to flicker. That proves easier said than done when Karen’s imagination is distracted by the sudden arrival of new neighbors on the cul-de-sac where they live in harmony with those they have known for a considerable period.

The Joneses stunning looks are only matched by the worldly sophistication of their lives. Tim Jones is an accomplished travel writer whose hobbies include blowing his own glass sculptures, while his wife Natalie is social media consultant, cooking blogger and heroine to the plight of Sri Lankan orphans. As Karen asks, “Why would people this attractive and accomplished ever want to live here?” Despite Karen’s initial misgivings, Jeff sees in Tim the coolest best friend he could only dream of having while Karen, too, is soon seduced by Natalie’s glamorous and sexy approach to suburban life. But with the friendship seemingly destined to step up a notch, the Gaffneys suddenly find themselves in the centre of a storm of international espionage that will give them a breathtaking glimpse of life outside their safe environment.

Michael LeSieur found inspiration from some friends’ idyllic lives in a suburban cul-de-sac. “It was similar to the one in Keeping Up with the Joneses and my friends could not have been happier living there,” says LeSieur. “It was like they had discovered paradise. It’s so endearing and funny that people could find that much happiness in something that simple.” Then he paired that thought with the craziness that would be an integral part of life for a couple of super spies, a la Mr and Mrs Smith.

Director Greg Mottola, whose previous films include the hit comedy Superbad and the critically-acclaimed Adventureland, also sparked to that juxtaposition. For him LeSieur’s screenplay brought to mind Billy Wilder’s classic 1960 comedy The Apartment and the 1945 romantic drama Brief Encounter from David Lean.

I am afraid it didn’t reach those heights. Intended to be funny, the material is well-meaning but lame. Much of the humour falls flat and the film hardly ever moves out of second gear. It is what I would describe as a try-hard picture.

There are sight gags, there is action and there are one liners but they don’t really pass muster in spite of the collection of actors who are good at this stuff, notably Galifianakis and Fisher. And that, I am afraid, gets back to the script. Let’s just say the audience I saw it with didn’t chortle repeated. For the most part, they just sat there and watched. I found myself tuning out. This is intended as feel good popcorn entertainment, just a bit of silliness to pass the time and that it is – lightweight without the feeling of having consumed a decent meal. Rated M, Keeping Up with the Joneses scores a 5 out of 10.

Director: Greg Mottola
Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher, Gal Gadot
Release Date: 20 October 2016
Rating: M

Alex First