"Keeping Up with the Joneses" Film Review

Jeff and Karen Gaffney are the everyday average couple. They just sent their kids off to camp and are now alone for the summer. Instead of getting back to the couple they once were, they resort to being a boring couple. That is, until new neighbors Tim and Natalie Jones arrive and spice things up. Tim and Natalie seem like the pinnacle of perfection, but they're hiding their own secrets: they're spies/assassins.

Zach Galifianakis' role as Jeff is just another typical role for Zach. Jeff's the clueless but lovable husband that is the eternal but naive optimist. It seems like that's the norm for Zach but at least he's good at it. He's never repetitive and always brings something new to each role he plays. It takes a special kind of comedian to do that and I applaud him for it.

Isla Fisher, who plays Karen, is the one who initially starts suspecting the Joneses of hiding something. She's the "smart one" of the two and suppresses her desires because she thinks she has to. Her character becomes more interesting when the Joneses show up, but before that she doesn't bring anything special to the film.

Gal Gadot takes on her first comedic lead role as Natalie Jones. I love Gal, but I honestly felt she was miscast. She did a decent job but she needs some more practice before taking on another comedic lead.

Jon Hamm was the true star of the film. Most people might know him from Mad Men but, if you didn't know him before that, he actually has a history of comedic roles under his belt. Jon and Zach had a fantastic bromance chemistry and really made the movie worth it. Isla and Gal had an okay femmance but the chemistry was lacking.

Overall, I loved the film. It had its problems but they were small and definitely wasn't the trainwreck the critics made it out to be. It's definitely worth seeing. I give it a 3 out of 4.