Keeping Up With the Joneses - directed by Greg Mottola
Watching this movie tonight one thought kept occurring to me.
Was there ever an R-rated cut of this film?
Frequently I got the sense that something was being held back.
It was in the slightly 'off' tone - the way that the violence seemed like a pulled punch.
The language felt like it wanted to break free of the invisible shackles that resulted in lines talking about sex feeling decidedly un-sexy.
Like the way that Marge and Homer talk about sex or Clifford and Mrs Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
So clean and robbed of lasciviousness that it didn't even feel like sex talk.
Oh how I longed for the sort of unrestrained dirt-mindedness of movies like "Wedding Crashers", "The Hangover" and "Spy".
Which is not to say that this isn't a fun movie - it certainly is.
But wow.... what it could have been.
The trailers for this film make it look like some sort of hybrid "Mr and Mrs Smith" / "Spy" but in truth it is more "Bad Neighbours" / "This Is 40".
In a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Atlanta Jeff and Karen Gaffney live their peaceful, uneventful lives.
Karen designs bathrooms and Jeff is a Human Resources man who fills his days with butt-covering paperwork and worthless trust exercises.
But he loves his job and he and Karen love each other.
Excitement enters their lives though when Tim and Natalie Jones move into a house across the road.
The mysterious couple buy the place with cash and without having physically seen the place.
Time is a travel writer, Natalie a media designer and food blogger.
They are also both insanely skilled at everything that they try from darts to languages.
Of course that is because they are spies.
It is all tremendously predictable but thanks to the four leads the ride is not without its charms.
Gal Gadot (that is Ga-dot - not Ga-doe) shows some of the physicality that was no doubt responsible for her getting the Wonder Woman gig.
Yes, she is stupidly beautiful but appears very comfortable with actions scenes and guns.
I have a bit of a thing for actors blinking when they fire guns and Gadot along with Cobie Smulders in the new Jack Reacher film both keep an ever open eye.
That impresses me more than it probably should!
Regardless both Gadot and Jon Hamm are a match made in heaven.
They are super cool, super good looking and fit well together.
Perhaps the matching of Karen and Jeff is not quite so perfect but a slimmed down Galifianakis and an often de-glamourised Isla Fisher make it work.
Fisher takes the comedy honours which should be no surprise to anyone who has seen her goofy but adorable turn in "Wedding Crashers".
I keep waiting for a movie to allow her to cut loose in such a manner again but sadly this movie doesn't.
It seems like it should but the script pulls back in places that it could have pushed the boundaries.
As Karen stalks Natalie convinced that she is up to no good there are some nice moments such as the lingerie changing room encounter where the statuesquely lithe Gadot towers of the mousey, intimidated Karen.
Fisher is far from mousey of course and does get to bust out the flash frock later in the piece but it is in moments of dialogue such as the changing room where I longed for stronger language and more daring lines.
The PG restraints hobble the comedy at each and every turn and by the time the villain is revealed and the violence starts it is really felt in the worst way.
Think of how hilariously over the top the very funny "Spy" is with its violence and profanity and then imagine it robbed of that and you are in the ballpark of this movies level.
It is funny but not often enough.
There are far too many moments where I was smiling slightly instead of laughing out loud.
While far from a bad movie this one relies too heavily on the appeal of its leads in lieu of a smartly written script.
I always find Fisher funny and Gadot is great playing a woman completely aware of her own potent beauty and Hamm is just pure class as always.
If there is a weakness it is Galifianakis who seems to be playing his "Campaign" character but a bit straighter.
He is best playing oddball characters but Jeff is very vanilla.
Galifianakis isn't allowed any leeway to introduce quirks and is left in Fishers dust time and time again.
Still - I enjoyed this film even as I spotted every scene coming a mile away but the enjoyment was more in watching four actors I like than it was seeing a great comedy script play out.
It's decent enough as a comedy but the frustration of a near miss is tangible at every turn.
RATING: 70 / 100
CONCLUSION: Amusing more than hilarious, this film chickens out at all the wrong moments but still has chuckles. Isla Fisher is only allowed to hint at the sort of madcap turns that we know she can deliver thanks to a decidedly PG script and that adds to the frustration. She, Hamm, Gadot and Galifianakis carry this through..... just.
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot, Patton Oswalt, Matt Walsh, Kevin Dunn, Maribeth Monroe, Ming Zhao, Jeff Chase, Amy Parrish, Michael Liu, Dayo Abanikanda, Richard Regan Paul, Adrienne Ballenger
Screenplay: Michael LeSieur
Music Score by: Jake Monaco
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Edited by: David Rennie
Running Time: 105 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - mild language, violence and sexual references
Running Time: 105 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - mild language, violence and sexual references
Was there ever an R-rated cut of this film?
Frequently I got the sense that something was being held back.
It was in the slightly 'off' tone - the way that the violence seemed like a pulled punch.
The language felt like it wanted to break free of the invisible shackles that resulted in lines talking about sex feeling decidedly un-sexy.
Like the way that Marge and Homer talk about sex or Clifford and Mrs Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
So clean and robbed of lasciviousness that it didn't even feel like sex talk.
Oh how I longed for the sort of unrestrained dirt-mindedness of movies like "Wedding Crashers", "The Hangover" and "Spy".
Which is not to say that this isn't a fun movie - it certainly is.
But wow.... what it could have been.
The trailers for this film make it look like some sort of hybrid "Mr and Mrs Smith" / "Spy" but in truth it is more "Bad Neighbours" / "This Is 40".
In a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Atlanta Jeff and Karen Gaffney live their peaceful, uneventful lives.
Karen designs bathrooms and Jeff is a Human Resources man who fills his days with butt-covering paperwork and worthless trust exercises.
But he loves his job and he and Karen love each other.
Excitement enters their lives though when Tim and Natalie Jones move into a house across the road.
The mysterious couple buy the place with cash and without having physically seen the place.
Time is a travel writer, Natalie a media designer and food blogger.
They are also both insanely skilled at everything that they try from darts to languages.
Of course that is because they are spies.
It is all tremendously predictable but thanks to the four leads the ride is not without its charms.
Gal Gadot (that is Ga-dot - not Ga-doe) shows some of the physicality that was no doubt responsible for her getting the Wonder Woman gig.
Yes, she is stupidly beautiful but appears very comfortable with actions scenes and guns.
I have a bit of a thing for actors blinking when they fire guns and Gadot along with Cobie Smulders in the new Jack Reacher film both keep an ever open eye.
That impresses me more than it probably should!
Regardless both Gadot and Jon Hamm are a match made in heaven.
They are super cool, super good looking and fit well together.
 |
| A tale of two couples - Gal Gadot, Jon Hamm, Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher |
Fisher takes the comedy honours which should be no surprise to anyone who has seen her goofy but adorable turn in "Wedding Crashers".
I keep waiting for a movie to allow her to cut loose in such a manner again but sadly this movie doesn't.
It seems like it should but the script pulls back in places that it could have pushed the boundaries.
As Karen stalks Natalie convinced that she is up to no good there are some nice moments such as the lingerie changing room encounter where the statuesquely lithe Gadot towers of the mousey, intimidated Karen.
Fisher is far from mousey of course and does get to bust out the flash frock later in the piece but it is in moments of dialogue such as the changing room where I longed for stronger language and more daring lines.
The PG restraints hobble the comedy at each and every turn and by the time the villain is revealed and the violence starts it is really felt in the worst way.
Think of how hilariously over the top the very funny "Spy" is with its violence and profanity and then imagine it robbed of that and you are in the ballpark of this movies level.
It is funny but not often enough.
There are far too many moments where I was smiling slightly instead of laughing out loud.
 |
| Isla Fisher and Gal Gadot in one of the few genuinely funny scenes |
I always find Fisher funny and Gadot is great playing a woman completely aware of her own potent beauty and Hamm is just pure class as always.
If there is a weakness it is Galifianakis who seems to be playing his "Campaign" character but a bit straighter.
He is best playing oddball characters but Jeff is very vanilla.
Galifianakis isn't allowed any leeway to introduce quirks and is left in Fishers dust time and time again.
Still - I enjoyed this film even as I spotted every scene coming a mile away but the enjoyment was more in watching four actors I like than it was seeing a great comedy script play out.
It's decent enough as a comedy but the frustration of a near miss is tangible at every turn.
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