**3/4
Starring Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Gary Cole, Glenne Headly, Amber Heard, Ben Hollingsworth, Lauren Hutton and Christine Evangelista.
Directed by Derrick Borte.
This satire of consumerism was enjoyable enough, but I do wish it had gone for the jugular.
This lesson would have been more timely in 2008 but here goes. A new family - the Joneses - has moved into an upscale neighborhood. They have the latest in everything - cars, decor, clothes, gadgets. They're the talk and envy of the neighborhood. They're also not real. They're professional envy-generators. They're stealth sales reps, out to show off new products in hopes word will spread and sales will go up.
The father of the group (David Duchovny) is new to the group, and he finds himself developing feelings for the mother, even though it's all supposed to be strictly professional.
When I think of the lasting satires, they had edge to them. Network, for instance, blistered the anything-for-ratings mentality of TV news. Here we get the four who are all deep down nice people. (Maybe not Demi Moore, but if I was doing this, I would have made her character ruthless). It made the ending feel like a wimpy way out, but what insights it does provide hit home, and it has a few laughs along the way.
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