Keeping Up with the Joneses (film)

Keeping Up with the Joneses is a 2016 American action comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was written by Michael LeSieur. Its story follows a suburban couple (Galifianakis and Fisher) who begin to suspect their new neighbors (Hamm and Gadot) are secret agents. The film stars Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher and Gal Gadot.

Keeping Up with the Joneses
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGreg Mottola
Produced by
Written byMichael LeSieur
Starring
Music byJake Monaco
CinematographyAndrew Dunn
Edited byDavid Rennie
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • October 8, 2016 (2016-10-08) (Los Angeles)
  • October 21, 2016 (2016-10-21) (United States)
  • February 15, 2017 (2017-02-15) (United Kingdom)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$29.9 million[3]

Production began in the United States in 2015[4] and was released on October 21, 2016. It grossed $5,461,475 during its opening week and $29.9 million worldwide, against a $40 million budget.[5] It received generally negative reviews and is considered a box office bomb.

Plot

Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) works as a Human Resources professional at a Defense contractor company called MBI, based in Atlanta. He and his wife Karen (Isla Fisher) live in a nice cul-de-sac with their two children, who are away at summer camp. They make the acquaintance of their new neighbors, Tim (Jon Hamm) and Natalie Jones (Gal Gadot). Tim is a travel writer whose hobbies include glassblowing, and Natalie is a social media consultant, cooking blogger and philanthropist. They are both impossibly good-looking, accomplished and stylish, yet overly friendly with the Gaffneys.

Karen starts having suspicions about the Joneses when she catches Tim poking around Jeff's den during a neighborhood block party, then witnesses Natalie doing what looks like a dead drop in a café. Karen follows Natalie to the mall, but Natalie confronts her in a dressing room, defusing the situation with some female bonding. Meanwhile, Tim invites Jeff to an underground Chinese restaurant, where Jeff drinks snake wine and is bitten by a severed snake head, forcing Tim to save his life. In exchange, Jeff takes Tim to indoor skydiving, a passion of his that none of his friends share. All the way through, Tim tries to have Jeff talk about his coworkers at the office. One night, with the help of Natalie, Tim sneaks into the MBI building and looks over Jeff's emails.

Back at their house, Jeff accidentally breaks the glass sculpture made by Tim that was given to them, revealing a bug among the shards. Realizing the Joneses are spies, Karen decides to sneak into their house to find more evidence. They discover files on Jeff and the other MBI employees and Jeff accidentally stuns Karen with a pen gun. They narrowly escape as the Joneses arrive. Natalie is worried Tim might be getting too close to Jeff, but they reveal they are in love with each other, which is also against the rules. Natalie notices the used pen gun on the floor, and they realize the Gaffneys had broken into their house.

The Gaffneys arrange a private meeting with MBI's head of security, Carl Pronger (Kevin Dunn) to expose the Joneses, but before Carl can disclose classified details, he is killed by a sniper who also attacks the Gaffneys. They are rescued by the Joneses and a high-speed chase and shootout ensue. The Gaffneys learn that the Joneses are actually trying to discover whether there is treason within MBI. Back in the cul-de-sac, Jeff gives Tim and Natalie some relationship advice and the two couples bond. After they reenter their house, the Joneses trigger a bomb that blows it up.

Later, after lying to the police about the Joneses, the Gaffneys are frantically preparing to go on the run when the Joneses reappear alive and well in their basement. They kidnapped Jeff's colleague Dan Craverston (Matt Walsh) and his wife Meg (Maribeth Monroe), who are revealed to be trying to sell MBI's experimental microchips to an international arms dealer called "The Scorpion" (Patton Oswalt). When the Scorpion calls on Dan's phone, Jeff answers posing as Dan and arranges a meeting to deliver the microchips.

Jeff and Karen go to the hotel where the meeting takes place, while the Joneses back them up from the roof. The Scorpion turns out to be a former MBI employee named Bruce Springstine, who recognizes Jeff. With their cover blown, Tim radios for back-up, but the operation is aborted and the Gaffneys are declared collateral damage. The Joneses disobey orders and surrender to the Scorpion, but before the latter gets around to killing them, Karen is able to pass a knife to Natalie, giving the Joneses the opportunity to eliminate half of the Scorpion's henchmen. They escape by jumping out the window into a pool, just before the briefcase containing the chips is detonated by Natalie, and a bomb kills the Scorpion and his remaining henchmen. Proud of their new friends, the Joneses say goodbye and go back to their life of espionage.

The next summer, the Gaffneys visit the café in Marrakesh where the Joneses used to date and happen upon the Joneses who are in the middle of a new mission, accidentally blowing their cover and triggering yet another gunfight.

Cast

Production

In March 2014, it was announced that Greg Mottola would direct the film, from a screenplay by Michael LeSieur, with Fox 2000 Pictures having their eyes set on Jon Hamm and Zach Galifianakis to star, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald producing under their Parkes + MacDonald Image Nation banner, and Marc Resteghini serving as an executive producer.[6] In October 2014, Isla Fisher joined the cast of the film, and the casting of Hamm and Galifianakis was confirmed.[7] In February 2015, Gal Gadot was in negotiations to star in the film.[8] In April 2015, Maribeth Monroe and Matt Walsh also joined the cast.[9]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on April 20, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.[10]

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on April 1, 2016[11] but was pushed back to October 21, 2016.[12]

Box office

Keeping Up with the Joneses grossed $14.9 million in North America and $15 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $29.9 million, against a budget of $40 million.[3]

The film was expected to gross $7–9 million from about 3,022 theaters in its opening weekend.[13] However, it only grossed $2 million on its first day and $5.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing 7th at the box office, and making $1 million less than Galifianakis' Masterminds, which debuted to $6.6 million the month before.[14]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 122 reviews and an average rating of 4.43/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Keeping Up with the Joneses squanders a decent premise – and a talented cast full of funny people – on a witless and largely laugh-free suburban spy adventure."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a score 34 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review calling it "An amiable time-killer of an espionage comedy."[18]

Accolades

This film resulted in three nominations at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards. Zach Galifianakis was nominated as Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Comedy, and Gal Gadot was nominated as Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Comedy. The film itself was nominated as Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Comedy.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Keeping Up with the Joneses (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  2. McNary, Dave (October 21, 2016). "Box Office: 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' Dominates 'Ouija 2,' 'Madea Halloween' on Thursday Night". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. "Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  4. Christine (April 20, 2015). "Extras needed for 'Keeping Up With The Joneses', starring Jon Hamm and Zach Galifianakis". On Location Vacations. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  5. "Keeping Up with the Joneses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  6. Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 14, 2014). "Fox 2000 Sets Greg Mottola To Helm 'Keeping Up With The Joneses' With Cast Circling". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  7. Ge, Linda (October 29, 2014). "Isla Fisher Joins Jon Hamm, Zach Galifianakis in 'Keeping Up With the Joneses'". TheWrap. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  8. Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 20, 2015). "'Wonder Woman' Gal Gadot Circling 'Keeping Up With The Joneses'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  9. Ford, Rebecca (April 7, 2015). "'Workaholics,' 'Veep' Actors Join 'Keeping Up With the Joneses' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  10. SSN Insider Staff (April 20, 2015). "On the Set for 4/20/15: Michael Bay Starts TMNT Sequel, Gal Gadot Begins Keeping Up With the Joneses, Natalie Dormer Wraps Shooting on Patient Zero". SSN Insider. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  11. Penderson, Erik (March 13, 2015). "'Eddie The Eagle' Has Landed At Fox; Biopic Starring Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman Set For 2016". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  12. Lincoln, Ross A. (May 27, 2016). "'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Release Moved To 2018 As Dylan O'Brien Recovers". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  13. Faughnder, Ryan (October 18, 2016). "'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' to battle 'Ouija' sequel and 'Boo! A Madea Halloween' at box office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  14. D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 23, 2016). "'Madea' To Push Well Past $27M As 'Jack Reacher' Takes $22M to $23M; 'Joneses' Can't Keep Up – Sun. AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  15. "Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  16. "Keeping Up with the Joneses Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  17. "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  18. Gleiberman, Owen (October 18, 2016). "Film Review: 'Keeping Up With the Joneses'". Variety.
  19. Rubin, Rebecca (August 13, 2017). "Teen Choice Awards 2017: 'Riverdale,' Fifth Harmony Shut Out Competition". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
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