One of the key elements that can make a comedy successful is the uniqueness behind its plot, which allows the main cast to exercise their talents as being both charismatic and comedic actors. One of the most clever and generally successful type of comedies are those that are Spy themed with both its concept, as well as its main cast making the whole experience a thoroughly fun and entertaining one. With Keeping Up With The Joneses, the plot is ideally crafted to work as being a Spy comedy with it bearing similarities to films such as Mr And Mrs Smith, Date Night, This Means War, Game Night, and True Lies. With a plot like the one Joneses carries that blends both elements of the Spy genre as well as action and romance, one would assume that the film would end up being as successful as the other films mentioned. Surprisingly that wasn't the case as the film not only flopped at the box office grossing only $14 million domestically on a budget of $40 million, but was critically panned by critics upon its release. Despite the films underperformance, the end result serves as being a fairly decent effort and ultimately undeserving of the type of reception it received. While it can be argued that Keeping Up With The Joneses comes across as being a bit too formulaic and borrows heavily from the other films mentioned, it ultimately works as being a fun-spirited and goofy comedy that's not only a hybrid of all the key genres merged into its story, but is ultimately made watchable due to its main cast regardless of how generic the rest of the film appears.
The plot for Keeping Up With The Joneses centers around an ordinary boring couple (Played by Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher), discovering that their flashy new neighbors (Played by Jon Hamm and Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot) aren't who they appear to be with them being revealed as spies, ultimately making both couples embroiled in international espionage. The plot for Keeping Up With The Joneses is nothing groundbreaking and may indeed come across as feeling relatively generic, but the concept is decent enough to allow it to be a charming and reasonably entertaining comedy with both its talented and well-established cast making it feel fresh and often hilarious to watch. The film nicely waves elements of a Spy thriller together with humor, action, and romance that makes it feel like an ideal Friday night film to watch. The film knows what it wants to be which is nothing more than being hilarious entertainment, and manages to do so with its cast being the main element that makes both the story and overall film work. What Keeping Up With The Joneses carries that makes it a genuinely fun experience despite its script often making it feel like a by-the-numbers action-comedy that lacks innovativeness, is the charm its concept allows it to possess with both the performances and action making for an experience that succeeds as being harmless and passable entertainment, even if the end result doesn't fully live up to the maximum potential of its clever concept.
Whereas the concept of Keeping Up With The Joneses presents audiences with a relatively fun scenario, it's the energy and enthusiasm of the films main cast that make it appear as being both believable and hilarious. The cast of both talented and funny actors appeals with the ensemble possessing great comedic timing, as well as being able to improv comedic bits during scenes of intended humor. Both Zack Galifianakis and Isla Fisher are perfectly cast and convincing in their roles at playing Jeff and Karen Gaffney, a bland married couple with too much time on their hands after sending their young kids away to camp with both struggling to find some new excitement in their lives, welcoming in their new neighbors with them soon suspecting that the newbies appear all too perfect with there being more to them than meets the eye. Galifianakis and Fisher manage to make their characters likable enough with them bringing a great deal of charisma to their roles. The same can equally be said with John Hamm and Gal Gadot in their roles of playing the suspicious new neighbors Tim and Natalie Jones, with them appearing as being both a welcoming and flawlessly attractive couple, who appear as if they can do no wrong along with being more concerned with keeping up with appearances while searching for information regarding their mission as spies. Both Hamm and Gadot play their parts very well and manage to share strong chemistry not just at playing lovers/spies, but also with Galifianakis and Fishers characters. All four actors bring some much-needed charm and spark to a script that's largely devoid of both with the side actors adding to the overall fun experience such as Matt Walsh and Maribeth Monroe as Jeff's friends Dan and Meg Craverston with Patton Oswalt in a surprisingly funny yet minimal role as the films main antagonist Bruce Springstine/Scorpion, as well as Kevin Dunn as MBI's head of security and Jeff's co-worker Carl Pronger. The cast for Keeping Up The The Joneses is a strong one, and is ultimately the main sole reason that anyone should watch it as everyone does their best to make the most of a rather bland script, that contains both hit-and-miss bits of humor. The actors all work well together as an ensemble with each receiving their key moments to shine in the film regardless of how stereotypical their characters often come across as being. Despite how one feels about the rest of the film as a whole, it can be agreed upon that the cast made their strongest and most noblest attempt to make the most of their experience with them ultimately creating an atmosphere that manages to be both goofy and warm-hearted.
Whereas the acting stands as being one of the films strongest points, the directing by Greg Mottola comes across as being standard for a typical action comedy flick with the film being given a tone that makes it feel like a Spy film mixed with being a romantic comedy. The films action sequences are well-handled and relatively clean in both the violence and blood department given the films PG-13 rating. They never come across as being particularly thrilling nor amazing to watch, but they're serviceable within the confines of the story. Mottola supplies the action with mostly explosions and gunfire to keep in line with both the Spy aspect of the story, as well as it's family-oriented rating. The film also carries moments that spices up the story and ultimately making it feel sexualized such as a scene involving both Isla Fisher and Gal Gadot's characters being caught together in a fitting room wearing nothing but lingerie, that's later followed by a sequence in which they share a passionate kiss in an effort to distract the bad guys. Mottola keeps the laughs, action, and story moving at a relatively fast-paced for its 100 minute running time. The films music does well with complimenting the Spy aspect of the story with the score feeling like a combination of Mr. And Mrs. Smith meets Date Night. As a whole, the directing of the film falls within the category of being effective with Mottola presenting the story with an atmosphere that's both absurdly fun as well as being ridiculously goofy for audiences.
The one area of the film that both works and falls short of its full potential is the screenplay written by Michael Lesieur. The script is at its strongest when boasting interesting themes regarding long-term relationships and friendships with a positive message that encourages audiences to not judge a book by its cover, along with friendships being born under the most unusual circumstances if those involved allow it. The screenplay for Keeping Up With The Joneses has something it wants to say regarding both marriages and friendships, that's buried within the action and comedic aspects of the story with its biggest issue being that it doesn't do the best job of exploring them as the concept is interesting, but the overall story comes across as being both cliched and predictable. Outside of Galifianakis and Fisher proving that they can make the most of being given characters who come across as being relatively flat, that's ultimately how their characters feel with the audience never truly becoming invested in their marriage dilemma once their kids are shipped off to camp. Hamm and Gadot's characters also feel the same, though the idea that the former is tired of his job of being a Spy is a noble attempt to make their characters appear to be more down to earth and relatable. There isn't much difference with the side characters as everyone else feels like stereotypical generic ones, that you often find in an action comedy. Patton Oswalt's character is too over-the-top and minimal of a part for audiences to genuinely care that he's the bad guy, with the same being said about Kevin Dunn's character and Jeff's co-worker Dan. Other themes that the script teases or plays with are stress of one's job, anxiety, disatisfaction with one's job profession as evidenced by Hamm's character, the desire to spice things up in one's marriage as evidenced by Gadot's character encouraging Fisher to make herself more lustful towards her husband, secrets regarding both Hamm and Gadot's character not telling their neighbors the truth about their real job professions with Gadot's character later arguing with Hamm about not being truthful regarding his tiredness of being a Spy, expectations, perfection, depression, honesty with each other in relationships with Hamm and Gadot's couple serving as a prime example, and morality. The main issue with the writing for Keeping Up With The Joneses that's become common with many action comedies with appealing stars, is how reliant it becomes on the talent of its main stars in order for it to work with little effort going into making the story feel less predictable and more exciting, while still managing to be hilarious and heartfelt.
Despite the films main shortcomings regarding its writing, Keeping Up With The Joneses manages to pass as being charming, fun-spirited, and light-hearted entertainment that's often funny largely thanks to its strong cast who manage to make it feel fresh. It's not as fleshed out and well-executed as it could've been had stronger effort went into making it, but it stands as being a fairly satisfying fun escape for audiences who are looking for an ideal distraction for an hour and a half. The casting for the film is its strongest asset with Galifianakis, Fisher, Hamm, and Gadot all proving to be pitch-perfect choices for their parts with the latter two rounding out a strong set of comedic talents. The story their given is predictable and borrows heavily from other films with similar narratives, but they manage to make an entertaining experience out of it with good old fashioned laughs accompanying it, as well as thoughtful themes regarding marriage, identity, and friendships. Could the film have explored these themes more effectively? Absolutely, but audiences still manage to get the gist of the plot and get a kick out of the films logic which says that living in a Surburban cul-de-sac neighborhood isn't always a boring experience. Those who enjoy fast-paced and goofy action-comedies with doses of both charm and hear to them such as Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Game Night, and Date Night will find a sizable amount of enjoyment out of Keeping Up With The Joneses, even if it manages to feel a bit too familiar at times. If anything else, it deserves to be seen and enjoyed for its main cast who ultimately make it worth watching as well as it serving as being a reasonable time waster.
Final Verdict: For action comedy fans as well as those of the films main cast, Keeping Up With The Joneses provides predictable yet fun entertainment.
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