BY MIKEY MIGO
I saw this movie mentioned a few months ago. David Duchovny was on Letterman and he pimped this flick. I didn’t think much of it. I’m always a fan of the dude’s work. I was never into “X-Files”, but I’m a huge fan of “Californication” and pretty much any other movie I’ve seen him in. I thought “The TV Set”, “Evolution”, “House of D” and all these projects were good if not great. I just like the dude’s style, his written work, and the roles he chooses. Then I see his costar is Demi Moore. I’ve always dug her, but it seems like she kind of fell off the face of the Earth in recent years. Outside of being with Ashton and her twitter stuff I’d of forgotten about her. So this was a cool surprise. The movie is about a fake family who goes to rich areas of the country and basically shills new products. The whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing comes into play here. The rich people in these areas become jealous of what “The Joneses” have and then go out and buy it to “keep up”. The family of actor-slash-salesmen’s job is to warm up to the people and casually sell the cutting edge of consumer life. Moore is the boss, the son is in the closet, the daughter is a whore, and David Duchovny is the voice of reason. It’s his first gig with the marketing company so we see this world through his eyes. As time goes on, he starts to get lonely; he reaches out, becomes morally conflicted, and displays realistic emotions. It’s an interesting premise. You could almost believe there is a marketing company or companies that do this kind of thing or have put a lot of time in discussing its possibilities. The execution of the movie is pretty good. Derrick Borte sharply and tightly directed this dark dramady. It’s got a good steady pace and never makes itself out to anything it’s not. It is what it is. I like that. I’d watch this movie again and I’d definitely recommend it. It’s a perfect low key indie-like movie that doesn’t bash its style over your head. That in itself is a style. B+ from me.
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