Jean of the Joneses (2016) User Reviews

Solid dramedy

[ReganRebecca · 7/10 · 16 December 2016]

Stella Meghie offers up a cute tale in Jean of the Joneses, a story about a 20 something woman who is losing control of her life and gets perspective after her estranged grandfather dies in front of her.

We met Jean as she is getting dumped by her boyfriend. She's in a bad place as she is now temporarily homeless and in danger of losing her book contract as she's spent her advance money on clothes while being unable to write a world. When she answers the door to her grandmother's house and a strange man asks for her grandmother before dying none of her aunts will tell her who the man is. It's only after rifling through his belongings that she finds out he was her estranged grandfather. And while the rest of her family are hell-bent on pretending he doesn't exist, Jean sets out to uncover where he was all those years and why he appeared on her grandmother's door step.

The acting for this is great and the script is solid, if a little conventional. You can almost feel how this was developed in writing labs and workshops, it neatly follows very particular beats. This isn't a bad thing, it leads for easy, digestible viewing. This is the kind of movie where everything is wrapped up in a neat bow by the end and even if we know where we're going it's a fun and enjoyable ride getting there.

Good Performances Are What Makes This Movie

[boblipton · 6/10 · 9 March 2024]

Taylour Paige got the advance for her first novel two years ago, but has been drifting since then. She moves in with her mother, but when the father she doesn't remember drops dead on the doorstep, she realizes that it's a downward spiral for her and her two sisters. But is this part of bottoming out, or merely a signpost on the way further down?

Stella Meghie wrote and directed this movie, and it's hard to not believe it's at least martially autobiographical. The characters are well written and performed, the setting ranges over Manhattan from Harlem down to Soho, and if the three sisters are in the grip of depression, their paralysis does not extend to their family relations. I don't find the story compelling, but the performances kept me watching.

An Admirable Attempt

[shellybell-91129 · 4/10 · 18 December 2016]

What I appreciate most about this movie is that they wrote black characters with complexity instead of stereotypical traits and a story of stereotypical themes. Unfortunately, the attempts at dark humor were off by a country mile. We have all seen this movie before . Like, 'This is Where I leave You" and just about every movie Woody Allen has ever made. Now I get the importance of comedic timing, because just about every actor in this movie completely lacks it. The main character comes off as whinny and the story just missed the mark overall. I do appreciate the attempt, because we need more movies like this with people of color.

Very good film. Funny, classy and not trashy.

[AgeOfAquarius · 10/10 · 6 December 2021]

My wife and I came across this looking for something new to see and we were pleasantly surprised. I would describe this as a modern, slightly dark and dry humor film which combines the elements of a classic Woody Allen film as seen through the eyes of a middle to upper class African American / Jamaican / Caribbean family delivered in an style likened to that of the film, The Royal Tenenbaums (another personal favorite). You could even compare it in style to "The Meyerowitz Stories" a film "Jean" predates by a year. The film has a good script and a great flow and it never gets dull. The cinematography is wonderful, plus you get New York City as a backdrop. This kind of film might not fit everyone's style or taste, but it's definitely worth the try.

Not a comedy

[incd · 2/10 · 8 July 2020]

Boring script, poor acting and if this supposed to be a comedy, the director must have hidden it somewhere. Having the actors laugh while carry on mundane conversations isn't funny. I couldn't finish watching it because it got lost about ten minutes in. It came across more like a documentary with unbelievable characters and situations. Definitely not a comedy.

Absolutely Hilarious

[svsxngdqf · 10/10 · 14 December 2021]

I actually laughed out loud and even cried laughing, especially during the funeral fight between Janet and her husband. This is my type of comedy, it was dark it was dry but it was actually funny. I'd characterize this more as a dramady but nonetheless I'm happy I watched. I must admit I rewatched the funeral fight scene multiple times. The entire cast did an amazing job and as a fellow Caribbean I'm happy they didn't bother with the poorly done Caribbean accents. Gloria Reuben did an Amazon job as a Jamaican grandma living in New York!

Fledgling screenwriter's tale of errant patriarch's effect on dysfunctional family is better suited for TV soaps

[Turfseer · 4/10 · 16 January 2017]

Given the paucity of films written and directed by African-American females, I wanted Jean of the Joneses to be better than it actually is. Written and directed by Stella Meghie in her feature debut, the film is impressively shot and features professional editing. Meghie's talents in the writing department, however, are much more geared toward TV soap opera than indie drama.

Meghie's protagonist is Jean Jones (Taylour Paige), who has just broken up with her boyfriend and goes to dinner at the home of her grandmother, Daphne, the Jamaican born matriarch. Daphne has three children: Jean's mother Maureen; Ann, a nurse; and Janet, a motivational speaker.

In perfect soap opera tradition, who shows up at the front door but Daphne's estranged husband and errant father to his three daughters, Gordon. In a most unlikely scenario, he drops dead of a heart attack without even entering the home. Even more unlikely is that Daphne has lied to the family that Gordon went back to Jamaica and he never made any efforts to contact anyone (until showing up at the front door).

Jean, a writer, now broke after eating up an advance from a publishing company, ends up shuttling from one relative to the next. First she stays with Ann who reveals she's pregnant by a doctor at the hospital where she works. Like most of these female sourced soapers, men of various stripes end up as temporary villains, proving their worthlessness in the face of self-empowered females.

First of course there was the hopeless male patriarch Gordon, who commits the ultimate sin (having no contact at all with his daughters). Then there's the revelation by Ann that the doctor who has fathered her child has wandering eyes (Ann ends up confronting him and berates a female colleague he's been flirting with—as Jean watches from a car).

After a brief excursion at her mother's apartment, Jean stays with her other aunt Janet and we learn that she's separated from another bad boy--an ex-husband, who for a time appears to be an absolute ass. While at Janet's, Jean learns of a half-sister, Laura, who is stung after learning of Gordon's death.

It would be disingenuous of me not to mention there is a decent male character here—and that's Ray, a good-guy EMT, who falls for Jean and pursues her. Jean, in a one-note characterization, suffers from lack of self-esteem and one wishes that Meghie could have given Jean more of clever back story especially in terms of her profession, instead of making her a generic novelist suffering from writer's block.

After all the trouble brewed up by a coterie of males, it's time for the certifiable happy ending. Ann decides to keep the baby, Janet works things out with the ex-husband, critical mother Maureen tells Jean that she really loves her, and grandmother Daphne decides to give Jean Gordon's apartment, which he left to her in his will.

Jean gets her literary juices going again by writing a forward to Gordon's memoirs and starting to work on a new book. Oh I must not forget that Ray's persistence pays off as it appears he and Jean will become a couple.

Paige is decent as Jean but is saddled by Meghie's predictable self- deprecating characterization. Mamoudou Athie steals the show as Ray, who exudes a most welcome charm. The rest of the actors who constitute the "family," do well despite all the not quite believable histrionics.

Hopefully Meghie's next effort will not rely on such predictable tropes as a self-effacing protagonist and overly melodramatic plot twists. I can only conclude that the direction should be television soaps where her talent truly lies.

This movie is unfunny and full of endless nagging

[mochteam · 4/10 · 15 May 2022]

Take all of Tyler Perry's movies and extract the throw away scenes to make a feature length film out of them and you'd have this movie.

It's very boring, It calls itself a comedy but there is no comedy in it and all the women in the film do is nag about their problems with men.

There's some sort of plot I guess but it blends in with the rest of the lack luster story so it seems to take a back seat as well.

If you want to see a bunch of dysfunctional black women whining about men for an hour and thirty minutes this is your movie.

Pretty good movie

[kjwatins · 10/10 · 11 August 2018]

I'm a huge fan of Taylour Page..... I really enjoyed the movie...

Loved so much about this show

[sheene · 9/10 · 5 March 2021]

Loved the characters, loved the amazing soundtrack, loved the humorous undertones, and the film work.. no shaky camera tricks, no yelling.. the scenes were wonderfully true, especially the wake! ..and loved the music legacy angle, hopefully foreshadowing with more to come

Great movie!

[wilderjd · 10/10 · 18 June 2021]

This movie is centered around a dysfunctional African American family with Jamaican roots. There are some serious and comical scenes, but this movie will keep the attention of its viewers.

This was a good movie

[shirleyls-77613 · 8/10 · 9 November 2021]

I enjoyed watching the actors. They did a fantastic job and the comedy was on point. I sent short clips to friends of funny scenes. I enjoyed the jazz music. Family secrets - they come out when people die.

So West Indian American

[janicelordepowers · 10/10 · 19 December 2021]

I loved this so much. I cannot believe how well the family dynamics fell in line with many of a West Indian households. Actors were great on timing, dryness, and humor. A real gem for those you get it or are open.

Why I am giving it a 10

[bettyharris-01998 · 10/10 · 1 March 2022]

I give Jean of the Joneses a 10 so maybe it will get watched. I want to see more movies made about realistic family problems, and can you do it with humour please.

Excellent movie about generational love and conflict

[hwg-21795 · 10/10 · 28 February 2023]

It was SO refreshing to see a movie about modern black women who experience real life conflict. The only thing I wish they would have left out is pregnancy. Can a woman live a successful life and know how not to get pregnant please. We're not dumb. We're teaching our girls sex equals babies. There are no mistakes, only irresponsibility. That concept needs to end. Generational love and conflict in this movie is just the right level of strong and we can all relate. Finally no talk about slavery, no gang banging because yes all black people have gang bangers in their family. Okay someone got pregnant, just no. But at least it wasn't your so been done, yeah we're all living in the hood movie. Right down to attending church for all the right reasons. The grandma/mom/g4anddaughter figuring out my life characters were completely relatable. Sadly the missing good men, where are all the good men who arent taken??? Still relatable. With the speckled good man and that's relatable in every race. Good men are just not being raised and it's a real problem. The dad who has kids by other women, sadly still relatable. But this movie was about a group of strong women who genuinely love each other and can't stand each other at the same time. Oh so true. Family. But they didn't get petty like other black movies we're constantly getting stuck with. They were direct, called each other on it. Worked on their dynamics. Battled it out with class, not petty gossip and trashy behavior we're always stuck watching in movies. It was completely an honor to watch these actresses. Their daily plights were real. The men in the movie were brought in perfectly. We're all trying to find our way, from birth to death, growth never stops. Right to the moment at the ending with the perfect message. YES! Loved this! Now on my favorites list. Great acting all around. Good storyline. Thank you for making movies that aren't about stereotypes. So tired of the American stereotypes.