Released earlier today, the first trailer for Keeping Up With the Joneses shows us what happens when two undercover government spies move in next to typical, mild-mannered suburbanites. Spoiler alert! It shakes things up just a bit.
Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot play the international persons of mystery, while Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher play the milquetoast plebs who are taken along for the ride. While the plot of this film will feel familiar to … anyone who has ever watched a Hollywood movie, it does look like this could be pretty fun.
The whole “exciting strangers come to town and shake up a couple’s banal existence” thing has been done and redone, but director Greg Mottola, who reinvigorated the coming-of-age comedy with Superbad, has a solid cast at his disposal for this one.
Highlights of the trailer (embedded above) include John Hamm speaking Chinese at 0:40, Galifianakis tranquilizing Fisher at the 1:33 mark (“Momma wants to cuddle”), and the courageous spousal abandonment that occurs at 1:52. Eventually, the hijinks gives way to the suggestion of something a bit more sinister afoot, as Hamm is forced to remind his new neighbors that once the trust is gone from a relationship “bad things can happen.”
This film will live or die on the chemistry of its warring couples and — at first blush — the principals seem to mix well. Jon Hamm’s smoldering handsomeness provides a nice yin to Galifianakis’ awkward yang, and Fisher feels convincing as the everywoman opposite the lithe and leggy Gadot.
Apart from its aforementioned headliners, Keeping up with the Joneses stars Patton Oswalt, Maribeth Monroe (Workaholics), and Matt Walsh (Veep). The film is due out in theaters October 21, 2016.
Stay tuned for further updates.
