At the outset the Jones family, consisting of the husband Steve (David Duchovny), wife Kate (Demi Moore), and teenage son Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) and daughter Jenn (Amber Heard), is shown moving into a very upscale unnamed American neighborhood. Their elaborate furniture is being installed in the new home, and before long one of the neighbors comes to call.

The first indication that something may not be what it seems occurs when night falls and husband and wife retire into separate bedrooms. Not getting along together perhaps? But we soon learn that theory is off the mark. It turns out that this is not a real family. The individuals are part of a unit working for a company and their mission is to inject themselves into a neighborhood, get close to people and set an example by buying the latest of everything so that neighbors become envious and go out a buy the same or similar luxuries. That is how the four earn their money—by inspiring others to keep up with the Joneses.

The story that develops involves the interaction of “family” members with each other, and their interaction with the friends they make among the neighbors, including Larry (Gary Cole) and Summer (Glenne Headly).

Moore does some of her best work as Kate, who is the cold, calculating head of the unit. She captures Kate’s ambition that keeps her fiercely focused on the job at hand. Duchovny is excellent too as Steve, who develops a romantic attachment for Kate, who fights against emotional involvement. The film, which builds to a dramatic climax, sharply raises the issue of values and the manner in which acquisitions can mask the vacuum left by insecure relationships and the uncertainties about what is most important in life.