The Joneses 2010

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Good salesmen would show no pity. The Joneses weeps, and we're not buying it. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: As cautionary tales about consumerism go, The Joneses manages a deft blend of the sexy, the sad and the silly. And Borte doles out his secrets and surprises in ways that make it easy to keep up with these Joneses. Read more

Mary F. Pols, MSN Movies: You walk out of it thinking, that's totally plausible and, while sick, a great idea. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Mr. Borte conjures up a pleasant Stepford that runs less on robotic conformity than on endless, anxious competition. The key to the film is that it allows this life to have some real appeal. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Iinitially promising but finally unremarkable... Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Writer-director Derrick Borte has a dark vision of maxed-out 21st-century suburbia where advertising is not only inescapable, but the essential fabric that bonds friends and family. What he lacks is follow-through. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: There's a nicely cynical streak at the heart of The Joneses, until Borte goes soft and lets the audience off the hook. Read more

Janice Page, Boston Globe: A generic hash of contrived comedy, romance, and tragedy, the saddest part of which is that a way-cool, high-end riding lawn mower winds up at the bottom of someone's swimming pool. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The premise of this social satire is so enjoyable you keep trying to believe it even though it makes no sense Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The cons should leave the audience a little breathless; instead, Borte goes for an indistinct tone and suburban-malaise vibe that was dated (as well as patronizing) when American Beauty came out. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: It makes for good, although not great, satire of the consumer culture that helped wreck the economy. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: [Demi Moore is] She's one reason to see writer-director's Derrick Borte's zeitgeist fable The Joneses. Though she's not the only one. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A cheeky little commentary on modern consumption, The Joneses offers an uneasy balance between what's funny and what's not, staying just edgy enough to be uncomfortable while hitting its targets. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: David Duchovny and Demi Moore are well accessorized as display-model husband and wife. But this cautionary tale might be easier to swallow if all that stuff didn't look like it came from a Sky Mall catalog. Read more

Michael Ordona, Los Angeles Times: The Joneses is a list of grievances nailed to the door of the Church of Materialism, but the hammer never hits the audience's fingers. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The Joneses starts with a great pitch but ultimately fails to close the deal. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The all-important production design perfectly captures a generation of unthinking consumers. And Moore and Duchovny, who have great chemistry, are strong enough to make the most of a script that really needed another rewrite. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The Joneses is a black comedy about stealth marketing made by a filmmaker who's evidently much too close to the subject to bite the hand that feeds him. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Fresh, scintillating and downright terrific... Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Almost everything about The Joneses, from the transparent plot twists to the winking irony of the golf-course patter, falls flat. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The screenplay goes as limp as a noodle and turns into a long string of cliches. It's sad, really, because the movie begins with so much promise. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Sometimes the social satire is a bit too obvious, but thanks to a smart screenplay and excellent performances, "The Joneses" is largely successful in delivering on its intriguing premise. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Either this is a tragic family or a satirical one, and the film seems uncertain which way to jump. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: In an entertaining way, the movie says something challenging, that it's possible to lose your life to stuff -- and never even know it. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film asks welcome questions about what price we should be willing to pay for "the good life," but ultimately it can't close the deal. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Joneses starts with a fresh identity but finally feels like the product of a focus group. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: In its amiable, ambling way, The Joneses is a zeitgeist film: it says as much as a Michael Moore screed about the American way of debt. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

Aaron Hillis, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Crass materialism and ridiculous marketing ploys are skewered by writer/director Derrick Borte in this uneven cautionary tale that starts off incisively funny, then devolves into preachiness. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: For a while, at least, a pitch-black (and, therefore, pitch-perfect) tale of our times. Read more

Dan Kois, Washington Post: By the end, The Joneses feels a little too satisfied with its own admittedly clever conceit and for the broad leeway it allows itself in the creative bandying of logos and slogans. Read more