The Joneses

Well, this is certainly not one of those movies they call a "romp." It's a rather bitter social satire which is actually somewhat depressing. I mean, nothing like a tear-jerker (not even for you softies out there), but the slight uptick in the last 30 seconds wasn't near enough to leave me with a happy fun feeling. In fact, the sudden turnaround to a "happy ending" was more annoying than anything else. I almost didn't want it to end happily. The depressing direction it had been headed just made more sense.

I think I figured out the premise within the first thirteen minutes, which was another slight disappointment; I could have lived with a bit more suspense. I was kind of looking for someone to flip out and go on a murderous rampage (not that I'm a fan of slasher movies, but that just seemed like an obvious conclusion). The movie did have a marked turning point at one hour in, which is when everything begins to fall apart for the Joneses and becomes almost American Beauty-esque, but no homicides in this one.

Now that I've spent the entire time bashing the movie, I must say it wasn't a total waste of time. I wouldn't put it on my "Must See Movies" list, but it's not a bad movie. And it has a decent soundtrack.