Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016) Gal Gadot, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher, Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Matt Walsh, Maribeth Monroe, Kevin Dunn Movie Review

Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)

Too Bored to Keep Up

Jeff (Zach Galifianakis - Birdman) and Karen Gaffney (Isla Fisher - Life of Crime) live a pretty ordinary life in the suburbs with their two children, with Jeff having a steady job in HR. And they seem to have perfect new neighbours in Tim (Jon Hamm - Friends with Kids) and Natalie Jones (Gal Gadot - Criminal) who are attractive, well travelled and seem capable of turning their hands to anything. But that all changes when Jeff and Karen discover that the Joneses are in fact international spies who have moved next door because someone where Jeff works has been using his work's computer to contact an international arms dealer.

Oh look, another comedy about a neighbour being a spy who ends up drawing people into their world of espionage and danger. I'm sorry but the idea has been done so many times that "Keeping Up with the Joneses" needed to have everything, from the writing to the acting, lining up to have been only okay at best and that is all it is. This is one of those movies where once you know it is about spies next door the storyline becomes unimportant as you know there will be explosions, car chases and some super skills on display, such as when Natalie throws three darts into the bulls eye. Oh and of course with it also being a comedy there has to be some comedy mishaps.

But here is the problem, "Keeping Up with the Joneses" is simply not that funny, or at least I found more of the humour failing than succeeding. Of course what some find funny others don't and for me it is a case that the comedy in "Keeping Up with the Joneses" just wasn't my thing with the characters of Jeff and Karen being the sort which might annoy you more than amuse you.

What this all boils down to is that "Keeping Up with the Joneses" is a straight down the middle comedy with a storyline which is too obvious and the sort of comedy which whilst having fans also has those, me included, who scratch their heads at what passes for comedy these days.


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