The Jone$es: Blu-Ray: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM
You ever find yourself wanting to believe in something too good to be true? Imagine if your new neighbors that just moved in and integrated themselves into the neighborhood were exactly that. In this day and age of corporate deceit and tomfoolery, imagine a corporate plant given instructions to convince people to keep up with the “Joneses” and convince families to strive for the unattainable in life. Then imagine that the corporation doesn’t use just one plant, but instead goes for four of a kind and empowers an entire fake family to run the scam. Talk about a strange family life.
Steve (David Duchovny) and Kate (Demi Moore) are the perfect couple for the perfect family, even with the standard two kids included (played by Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth). Each of them sets out to sell themselves and the products they use in a friendly but unscrupulous bit of marketing. Their actions make you think about your own neighborhood and the new car down the street (corporate plant?) or the big screen television being delivered next door (where did they get the money for that? And can I get one?).
It is an interesting look at the modern family who looks to enhance their lives through the upgrading of new technology or “necessities” and the lengths we might go to get there. And the corporate bigwigs planned this and manipulate our desires through the use of a family prepped and prodded to show us not what we have, but what we are missing.
JAMS Ink on The Jone$es
It is slightly interesting seeing a fake family start to unravel under the stresses that real families face every day, and also interesting to see these commercial plants come together while dealing with adversity. Overall the movie is original, but not really my thing. If you are a fan of a smartly written indie type film, this one could probably work for you because it does have its moments. At times I can have difficulties with movies trying to share a deeper meaning (like most indie flicks do) and this one seems to fall into that vein.
David Duchovny and Demi Moore make for an interesting onscreen couple. The sex addict and the cougar sharing screen time just seemed to be in the back of my mind as I watched them acting (or being fake) and playing roles that were acting (or being fake). So much fakeness around that it can make a man’s head spin.
EXTRAS
Blu-ray Special Features:
● Deleted Scenes
○ Steve’s Job Interview
○ Steve’s Post LifeImage Career
THE JONESES
Street Date: August 10, 2010
Screen Format: Widescreen
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital (BD)
English 5.1 Dolby Digital (DVD)
Subtitles: English and Spanish (BD/DVD)
U.S. Rating: R
Total Run Time: 111 minutes
Closed Captioned: Yes
The Blu-ray aspect was beautiful as usual, but the film did not need it like a summer blockbuster does. The Joneses survives on its own merits rather than splashy scenes.
The only extras included on the disc were two deleted scenes that give insight into the life of Steve (David Duchovny) both before and after this page in his life. They are scenes that add something to the film but still do not feel like they are absolutely necessary, and the director must have thought the same since they were cut out of the film.
The Jone$es from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment slides into town on store shelves on August 10, 2010 so grab a copy and do not let them convince you to buy a thing. Except maybe a drink to go with the movie. And maybe you need some toilet paper...
Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.
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