Film Critic, Powers Next Door Keeping Up with the Joneses, Zach Galifianakis makes another hilarious appearance

Heath 2022-03-26 09:01:09

I recently downloaded an American comedy. Although I have no interest in American humor, I still watched it patiently. To be honest, the laughter of the film is very ordinary, but the male protagonist Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis, "Hangover" series, One of the three leading actors), but it made me laugh wildly. This buddy and Isla Fisher are definitely the funny highlights of the film (don't mention that pair, I really don't feel it), all the jokes come from this couple.

Before entering the film analysis, let’s take a look at the scores of professional film critics in various countries. The freshness of Rotten Tomatoes is only 19% (the public’s glasses are sharp), and the metacritic score is also a mere 34 (the quality of the rotten film is very good).

Let’s start with a brief analysis of the film. There are not many things to watch, the actors are a little bit, the plot is basically quite old-fashioned (so I won’t talk about it), the laugh point is relatively simple (but it can also be regarded as a bright spot)

The actors (only two people are talked about)
Zach Galifianakis : The "Hangover" became an instant hit, and the genuine jokes and unpretentious words and deeds impressed the audience deeply. The "Neighborhood Power Spy" introduced this time, if it weren't for Zach's joining, it is estimated that there will be no luck.

Gal Gadot: He became popular with the role of Gisele in the "Fast and Furious" series, and then entered the hearts of the audience with the title of "Wonder Woman". In this film, as a female spy, how do you say it? The acting skills are really average, there is no special feature, there is no joke at all, and I am speechless.

Plot
: Jeff and Karen, a suburban couple, discover that their shiny new neighbors (Tim and Natalie) aren't easy, so they start an undercover investigation, and the deeper the truth, the more dangerous it is Heavy.

The laughter is
both the highlight of the film and the groove of the film. What do you mean?
Highlights: As a comedy, isn't it strange that there is no laughing point? As long as Jeff appears in this film, there will be no shortage of laughs. His dullness, his simplicity, and his neuroticism are the source of the film's laughs. It is no exaggeration to say that 95% of the jokes in this film come from his performance (and 5% come from Karen).

Slots: The single point of laughter, the same sentence, or the word "too much", the film relies too much on the laughter guided by the Jeff couple, while ignoring the interaction of other characters, making people feel that the Jeff couple and Tim and Natalie are one The group does not have any intersection and interaction on the jokes at all. They just do their own things. They forcibly divide the jokes of the story and the development of the story into two, resulting in the coherence and funnyness of the plot cannot be organically combined. (Personal opinion, for reference only)

Final inventory
Director★★★☆☆ (Greg Mottola, who has directed a series of interesting movies and TV series)
Plot★★☆☆☆ (comparatively old-fashioned)
Actor★★☆☆☆ (two stars ) It's for Jeff couple)
visual effects★★★☆☆(regular)
sound effects★★★☆☆(no plot, just average)

Recommended crowd: Everyone

's detailed movie reviews + stills first published in "The Journey of Floyd and Helen", thank you

View more about Keeping Up with the Joneses reviews

Extended Reading
  • Israel 2022-04-22 07:01:40

    I watched it on TV on a business trip, and the actors of the two agents were well chosen. The whole is relatively boring, because the male and female protagonists can't hold up a bit.

  • Zane 2022-04-22 07:01:40

    super eye-catching couple

Keeping Up with the Joneses quotes

  • [Tim eavesdrops to Jeff and Karen through an earphone. He hears them moaning]

    Tim Jones: [to Natalie] I think they're having sex. God damn it, we don't have time for this. I mean, they're supposed to be here in 45 minutes. Nope, they are done.

  • Jeff Gaffney: Okay, can you guys tell us anything at all?

    Natalie Jones: I'm not Greek. I'm Israeli.

    Karen Gaffney: Ex-Mossad?

    Natalie Jones: Can't tell you.

    Karen Gaffney: Come on. Are you guys even married? Can you even tell us that?

    [Tim and Natalie look at each other]

    Tim Jones: Yes. That actually you can't fake.

    Jeff Gaffney: But that's it? Everything else was a lie?

    [Tim shrugs while drinking coffee]

    Jeff Gaffney: I mean, 'cause I think when you told me that you hated your job, that seemed real. I mean, from an HR perspective. That seemed real.

    Natalie Jones: [sharply] You told him you hate your job?

    Tim Jones: [embarrassed] I may have mentioned certain misgivings, in confidence.

    Natalie Jones: Interesting. Why is this coming out now?

    Tim Jones: Because Jeff is actually a good listener. And I did mention that to you before, in Marrakesh. At that place that we always go to. Hazim's. That day, we spent the whole afternoon here. We talked about maybe getting out of this. We talked about I could actually become a travel writer, for real. We could maybe have a child.

    Natalie Jones: That was hypothetical. It wasn't a life plan.

    Tim Jones: I didn't think it...

    Natalie Jones: [in Hebrew] Ya'ala itcha! Sicha achat sheyotzim she'ata mastul al nargila...

    [= I've had it with you! We go out, have one conversation, and you are high with the hookah]

    Tim Jones: [to the Gaffneys] Okay, this is what we do. Automatically, we go to Hebrew and then it's gonna be a whole thing.