Keeping Up With The Joneses – Movie Review

Following a recent trend of spy-centric comedies, Hollywood have once again tapped this well worn sub genre in the hope of yielding more successful results, with Keeping Up With The Joneses.

So, is it any good?

no2016 has been a spectacularly unfunny year for comedies, and while Keeping Up With The Joneses may not quite be the worst of the bunch, its definitely the laziest. Its as if the filmmakers have put zero thought into making something even remotely original, preferring to recycle elements from other scripts and cobbling them into something that vaguely represents a film. The familiar premise involves a suburban couple (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) who suspect their new neighbours (John Hamm and Gal Gadot) are in fact government spies. As they attempt to uncover the truth, they unwittingly become entangled in a global espionage ring, and hilarity ensues…or so the filmmakers hope.

“A spectacularly unfunny and completely uninspired cinema experience.”

This is the kind of movie you’ll forget about within minutes of leaving the cinema, in fact there were times when I zoned out during the film itself. What we have here is a perfectly good cast utterly wasted with material that feels like its been rehashed from films True Lies and Spies Like Us, either of which I would have gladly re-watched rather than spending ninety minutes in a cinema without so much as cracking a smile.kutj-gallery2-gallery-imageZach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher try admirably as the two leads, with Galifianakas delivering the films few actual laughs, while John Hamm and Gal Gadot really don’t have much to do other than just look pretty and strike a few action poses. One of the biggest issues is that the film wastes too much time waiting for the protagonists to work our their neighbours  identities, so that by the time they finally arrive at the truth, we’re already half way done. In doing this, director Greg Mottola (yep, the guy who made Superbad!) and writer Michael LeSieur, miss a valuable opportunity to further mine the potentially humorous premise of two bumbling suburban parents stumbling through life or death matters of national security.keeping-up-with-the-joneses-gal-gadot-isla-fisher-jon-hammApart from a few light chuckles, Keeping Up With The Joneses is a spectacularly unfunny and completely uninspired cinema experience. Do yourself a favour, save your hard earned money, and catch it next time you’re on a long haul flight. If only to help you fall asleep.

Keeping Up With The Joneses is in Australian cinemas from today

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