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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Apr 22, 2010
“The Joneses”
“Date Night”
(20th Century Fox)
In many ways, “Date Night” could have gone as wrong as the titular evening does in the movie. We’ve seen it happen before, most recently in big-fish-out-of-water fare such as “Did You Hear About The Morgans?” with Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant.
But it’s to the credit of comedic co-stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell that this flick clicks. Their comic chemistry warms the screen.
Resigned to their roles as suburban New Jersey dwellers with a couple of undisciplined children, tax lawyer Phil Foster (Carell) and real estate agent Claire Foster (Fey) do what they can to keep the spark in their marriage. Date night in Manhattan is one of the ways.
Showing up at a trendy hot spot without a reservation, where they are dissed by the host, the Fosters get even by taking a reservation for the Tripplehorns. Little do they know that the identities of the Tripplehorns will take them to places they never imagined.
The first place is the alley behind the restaurant, escorted by a pair of goons inquiring about a stolen flash drive belonging to a ruthless mobster (an uncredited Ray Liotta). Escaping from the clutches of the thugs, Phil and Claire head to the police station to file a report with Detective Arroyo (Taraji P. Henson), only to discover that the goons they evaded are actually cops Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common). On the run, again, Phil and Claire meet up with government tech whiz Holbrooke (a shirtless and fit Mark Wahlberg), a former real estate client of Claire’s, who kindly offers some assistance.
Eventually they find the “Tripplehorns” (not their real name), Taste (James Franco) and Whippit (Mila Kunis), who reveal to them the contents of the flash drive and then pass it off to them as they evacuate the premises. From there, “Date Night” turns into a fright night of car chases and crashes, sleazy strip clubs, sexually freaky politicians and return visits to Holbrooke (yum!). Ultimately, the date night-mare misadventures provide just the fix the Fosters needed for their marriage. But watching them get there is more than half the fun.
“The Joneses”
(Echo Lake)
Keeping up with the Joneses is harder than you think, especially when they are a pre-fab clan planted in an upscale suburban neighborhood by a faceless consumer corporation to “do some damage.” But that’s precisely what happens when the Jones family – father Steven (David Duchovny), mother Kate (Demi Moore), son Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) and daughter Jenn (Amber Head) – moves into one of the biggest houses on a block full of newly constructed mansions.
Under the watchful eye of KC (Lauren Hutton), the family parades around in high-priced duds, drives an array of shiny new Audis, adorns themselves with expensive jewelry and has a home decorated in the latest in design trends, complete with all of the cutting-edge toys and gadgets technology has to offer. All they have to do is maintain the façade (in spite of the fact that Steven and Kate sleep in separate bedrooms and Jenn wants to bed Steven) and get their well-to-do neighbors to take note of their goods and go out and spend, spend, spend.
All goes well until, little by little, the cracks begin to show. Less well-off neighbors Larry (Gary Cole) and Summer (Glenne Headley) do their damnedest to keep up until tragedy strikes. High-schooler Jenn is sleeping with a married man. Mick misinterprets signals from a classmate and ends up getting beaten up pretty badly, leading to his coming out as gay. And in spite of making every effort to keep a professional distance between herself and Steven (a failed golf pro and car salesman), because she is his superior, Kate realizes she has feelings for him, threatening the style of living to which she has become accustomed.
At turns funny and serious, writer/director Derrick Borte’s “The Joneses” does a respectable job of commenting on consumer culture and its negative impact on society. Moore and Duchovny are pleasant to watch together and bring a level of glamour to the movie, while supporting players Headley and Cole prove that they can hold their own.
