Keeping Up with the Joneses is a suburban comedy starring Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher and Gal Gadot.

Galifianakis and Fisher star as Jeff and Karen Gaffney, who for the first time in 11 years are facing empty nest syndrome with their kids away at summer camp. The couple plan to spend some quality time together and rekindle some romance in their lives. But the arrival in the cul-de-sac where they live of new neighbours Tim and Natalie Jones (Hamm and Gadot) put paid to those plans.

The Gaffneys are intrigued by the new, gorgeous, well-to-do and sophisticated couple next door. Tim is an accomplished travel writer whose hobbies include blowing his own glass sculptures, while Natalie is a social media consultant, cooking blogger, and heroine to the plight of Sri Lankan orphans.

The Gaffneys and the Joneses soon become fast friends… but before long Jeff and Karen discover that Tim and Natalie are not quite what the initially appear to be. They are, in fact, government spies and their lives are turned completely upside down in the process.

Keeping up with the Joneses’ screenwriter Michael LeSieur was inspired by friends of his who live in a suburban cul-de-sac. “It was like they had discovered paradise,” he says, adding he found it endearing and funny that people could find that much happiness in something that simple.

Michael LeSieur writes real characters and has a dry and sometimes absurd sense of humour

LeSieur was also intrigued by husband-and-wife super spies, such as those depicted in films like Mr and Mrs Smith – and wondered what an ordinary married couple would make of a couple of spies living across the street. “I kept wondering, what this average husband-and-wife would think about all the craziness going on in the spies’ house. There’s a whole other movie going on from the neighbours’ perspective. I started thinking about that and combining it with some aspects of the lives of my friends living on their beloved cul-de-sac.”

That was the basis of his screenplay. The film’s director Greg Mottola was tickled by the idea and also cites LeSieur’s style as an added bonus. “I like Mike’s writing a lot. He tends not to create just jokes and one-liners. Mike writes real characters and has a dry and sometimes absurd sense of humour. Keeping up with the Joneses has its own distinctive character. It felt like a comedy/character movie disguised as a high concept idea, and that’s the kind of story I love most.”

Star Galifianakis describes Jeff as a man who “puts a positive face on everyone and everything, so it’s fun to watch him lose it when faced with real danger. I loved playing a character that starts coming unravelled, thanks to the spies he’s becoming friends with.”

“The Gaffneys need to get in touch with one another, romantically and emotionally, notes Fisher. “They eventually get there, but in the craziest kind of ways.” She adds that she loved the story because “there’s so much comedy inherent in a suburban couple with their noses pressed to the glass, envying their neighbours’ glamorous lives.”

It is no stretch to envisage Jon Hamm playing a suave and mysterious character. But it was the way the character defies expectations that really drew him to the role. “The interesting thing about Tim is that he’s a reluctant spy,” says the actor. “He’s very good at it, but he doesn’t necessarily still like it. He’d like to be more like Jeff – a normal suburban guy.”

Rounding up the foursome is Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman’s latest incarnation. Gadot comments that unlike Tim, Natalie loves being a spy. “When we meet them, Natalie and Tim have a good relationship, except that he doesn’t share a lot with her,” says Gadot. “Tim may even be a little intimidated by Natalie. After all, she’s quite dominant and is always in control. Natalie wants things to happen when she wants them to happen!”

The filmmakers also note that while the film draws comedy from the obvious differences between the two couples, it also makes an important observation: the Gaffneys eventually learn that the picture-perfect Joneses share the same kinds of problems endemic to their union – and to virtually all marriages!