This is a brief reflection on a movie I like very much. None of the critics shared my feelings, it seems, but I reserve the right to admit I like things that only a simpleminded person would like. This is The Joneses, starring David Duchovny and Demi Moore.
The plot, in brief, is that Steve and Kate (that’s Duchovny and Moore) are pretending to be husband and wife and parents to two perfect kids. It’s a stealth marketing scheme. The idea is that this perfect family—the Joneses—have a lot of toys and you too, if you buy all those toys, can be perfect. And, if you are Mr. Jones, you can have the perfect toy as your wife. That is the dialogue underlying this scene,
What nobody seems to have foreseen is the possibility that Steve might really fall for Kate. Not just take advantage of pretending to be her husband, but actually want a real relationship with her. That is just what happens, though. And no sooner has Steve realized that this is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with than he realizes that the demands of pretending to be “the Joneses” will prevent him from doing that. They can’t really be husband and wife while they are pretending to be Mr. and Mrs. Jones.
That’s the first horn of the dilemma. The second horn is that this “family” works for an outfit called LifeImage and KC (Lauren Hutton) works for LifeImage. Her job is to see to it that the Joneses and all the other families she supervises reach their potential as marketers of a certain style of life and all the toys that are necessary to sustain it. KC thinks Steve Jones really hasn’t focused the way he should, so she gives him a pep talk.
This is the point where context is so important. Had KC realized that Steve had fallen or would fall so hard for Kate, she would never have said this: “The question you have to ask is, “How far are you willing to go to get what you want?” She assumes that “what he wants” is going to be the money and the reputation that goes with being the top salesman for LifeImage.
In fact, what Steve wants is Kate. And when he has grasped the meaning of the question—How far are you willing to go?—he wrecks the whole family by telling all to the neighbors. Kate and “the kids” escape and set up another Jones family with a new Mr. Jones. But Steve finds them and comes in the back door for a heart to heart talk with Kate. After which, she leaves LifeImage as well and the two of them drive off together into the sunset.
Had KC known what Steve really wanted, she would no doubt have found a different motivational question to ask him. You really have to get the context right because, you know, it’s everything.
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