We use this term in France to speak about the new economy about an individual doing business instead of firms, shops, official sellers. So here it's the case as this fake family is in truth a team of sellers who have sales objectives and reward bonus. I'm surprised to see that an American movie dares questioning this trend because usually this materialist way of life is considered like paradise ! At first, the movie is thus intriguing as those facts aren't not told immediately so if you notice that the family is a bit unusual, you can't tell why. Next, if the movie plunges into dark waters as tension and problem arises inside and outside the family : in short, consumerism and objects are not what people needs because they look for feelings and ties. If Moore is well casted here because she is surely this calculating, cold business woman (look her look !) and "Fox" is his usual cool guy until he experiences a revelation, the real problem comes with the kids : the girl is ecstatic to have sex with an older married man (a bit like in her real life) while the boy is the poor persecuted gay coming out of his closet! so this is what the real problem with America today, its lack of familial values ! But i understand that this movie says it's bad to sell but it's OK to have sex with whom you want ! I say no to both so maybe this movie is indeed original in economics, but at the end, it totally misses what's it's essential….

There's something really compelling about this movie: I thought it was very well cast, well directed and well played by all. It keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what the big secret of this "family" is; I assumed they were spies or something. Once I found out, I thought what they do for a living was pretty implausible--as if they would network with enough people in their community to cause such measurable spikes in sales of consumer goods, let alone generate enough income to justify their lavish cover lifestyle. But if you can get past that, it works really well, and thematically is about how little we really know the people around us, even (or especially) our neighbors. I really liked the character arcs--that's what makes this movie work so well in my opinion--especially that of the "son" being gay. That was definitely unexpected and takes the story to new depths. Overall it was kind of American Beauty-esque both in theme and how we follow each character and get to see them for who they really are. In fact it seems to pay homage to American Beauty in more than one or two ways. On the one hand that seems like a cheap rip off, but on the other hand, overall the film works and has enough original and good elements to keep you interested. Plus AB is my all time favorite movie so I don't mind at all.I thought this film had a rare depth and I was really invested in the story & characters from the first frame to the credits. A really well made film. Oh and p.s., casting Lauren Hutton was a master stroke on an already superb cast.

I think that as a whole this movie is very well done. It's a good story with an interesting base and solid performances from all the actors. This film can be basically taken (but not limited to) two different ways. Either this film is just plain entertainment; a Friday night filler with the family, or this is a message to the consumers of the world. We have to be careful who we believe out there. Everybody is trying to sell something. A person applying for a job is trying to sell their work ethic. Your blind date is trying to sell their personality. This world is full of advertisements vying for your attention and it won't be long before establishments like the Joneses unit exist in the world. There is a line that Steve uses while trying to sell his watch to his golf buddies- "It's all about who leaves with the most toys." If you want to live that way then fine, that's your choice, but just see what that did to the Joneses and all of their neighbors. It's definitely something to think about. Then again, maybe it's just a movie. It all depends on how you want to see it.

This film starts as a promise: the plot is an interesting one, the actors are well known and the staged is attractive.The first half the story is developing and the viewer interest growing, the characters seem real: the girl striving to grow faster than her classmates, her brother defining his sexuality and the husband reconciling his needs with his role.However during the second part of the film, the whole plot starts to fall down like dominoes, the husband/wife relationship scenes take long unnecessary times, the amount of money that the neighbours spend on merchandise does not justifies in any way the contract and life style the Joneses have and last but not least the husband confession lacks credibility, due to the fact that he accepted the job knowing what it involved and also that he is only partially responsible for his neighbour deeds.Unfortunately the end is so out of context, just to have a happy ending.I think that the writer and the director had such a great opportunity to make a deep, well framed, based critic of the consumerism society and sadly they let it go, in order to pursue more known paths.Thus in the end, it really does not matter if the society is still ill or fail to modify its behaviour in order to re acquire sanity: NO the important part is that the couple leave everything in order to be happy.You are warned: the first half is entertaining and interesting, the second one, the structure falls like a house during an earthquake, predictable and surely.