The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema The Big & Small Screen
Every time the name Jon Hamm comes up, somehow the discussion always reverts back to the same old stale “James Bond” debate. Is Hamm the next 007? Why has Hamm not been announced as the next James Bond? Will he ever be? It is a sad state of affairs and the tragedy of it all is that odds are the 45-year-old American actor/producer may never get that call.
So why burden the guy? The fate of the next James Bond lies in the hands of one woman and one woman alone — American film producer Barbara Broccoli.
From prior recruitment of James Bond characters, it is almost clear that the spy who likes it “shaken, not stirred” has always gone to someone we all least expect.
Case in point is the current Agent 007 —Daniel Craig — and the least famous of all Bonds — Timothy Dalton.
Now, the reason I bring up the whole James Bond and Jon Hamm debate is because one cannot help but get the sense that Hamm’s latest film is one last ditch effort to get people talking about it.
The film in question is “Keeping up with the Joneses”. It is currently showing at all local Ster-Kinekor cinemas. The film also serves as a control experiment of what life would look like if Hamm did, for some reason, play the coveted role.
The first stream of results are in and it does not look good.
For one, if Hamm did get the role then it would rain and rain for days. Also, hell will freeze over.
The other thing is that the guy would stink up the joint.
“Keeping up with the Joneses” is an American action comedy that tells the story of a suburban couple who get embroiled in the game of espionage when they discover that their seemingly perfect neighbours are spies.
Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) is a human resources employee at McDowell-Burton International (MBI), a company that makes microchips with military implications.
Unfortunately, someone has been using Jeff’s computer to broker a deal with an arms dealer, known as the Scorpion (Patton Oswalt) and sell them merchandise stolen from the company.
This brings about a couple of spies Tim and Natalie Jones (Hamm and Gal Gadot), who move in across Jeff’s house. They appear to be too perfect, which alerts Jeff’s wife Karen (Isla Fisher) and what follows is a series of laughs, gags, car chases and a game of cat and mouse.
Now, intro to this story aside, this is a funny, smart and entertaining film. Yes, the formula has been done before, hundreds of times, but the duo of Galifianakis and Fisher keep the movie going at a good and steady pace.
Punctuated by Gal Gadot’s fight scenes, hers alone, this could have been a good movie. Shout out to Patton Oswalt who totally owns his short scenes as the Scorpion, during the third and final act.
My only problem with the movie was Hamm. He clearly lacks the James Bond charisma that the film clearly demanded of him. He does not have a funny bone in his entire body and way too often played second fiddle to his co-stars.
It does not take much to outshine the guy and almost everyone he shares screen time with in “Keeping up with the Joneses”, steals the spotlight. It does not help his case, and this I fault the writers, that he plays no significant part in the movie apart from being eye-candy.
The above is strictly for the ladies, who for some reason think the guy is, and I quote, “dreamy”. Go figure.
The stunt work is slow and steady, coming off to some extent as classy, and this really was the right film to showcase what Gadot will bring to the “Wonder Woman” film later in the year. The film is due for release on June 2.
But I have to admit that this film was also a huge leap for Galifianakis, from his other 2016 film “Masterminds.” Despite having a very talented cast, “Masterminds” is a terrible film and I thought it would take a miracle for Galifianakis to live off being associated with such rubbish.
Fisher also does a stand-out job as Galifianakis’ equal and partner, Karen. She really showed a side to her that I never knew existed. Maybe, there is more to her than just being the wife of Sacha Baron Cohen. There is someone who is willing to wake up next to that guy and get all his crude, witless humour.
My only problem with the movie was Hamm. He clearly lacks the James Bond charisma that the film clearly demanded of him.
