This is Where I Leave You is one of those films that can almost trick you into believing it's a good film because you get so wrapped up in the energy and performances of the actors that you forget that the writing is either trying too hard or simply undercutting the wealth of talent on screen rather than enriching. In this case, This is Where I Leave You does both, not giving its characters enough plausible humanity and, instead, trades pragmatic routes for character-driven scenarios for brazen comedy or overly-sappy drama, making for a film that holds about as much emotional maturity as a satire about the topics of family and grief.
The film centers around the Altman family, who are united following the death of their patriarch, who's dying wish was for the family to sit Shiva, a Jewish tradition meaning that everyone in the family must live under the same roof for the next week, so we are told by Hillary (Jane Fonda), the Altman's mother. The four Altman siblings, who are all emotionally damaged or troubled in some way, find this to be a daunting task for many reasons: Judd (Jason Bateman), for one, has recently witness his wife having sex with his boss, Wendy (Tina Fey) has a marriage that is failing due to her husband's frequent absence, Phillip (Adam Driver) is an immature playboy unwilling to give up his childish ways, and Paul (Corey Stoll), while seeming like the only sibling who has his ducks in order, still finds ways to be too confrontational with his siblings or too hardened in his own way of thinking. Together, this family must tolerate each other for a week to adhere to their dying father's wish, and we must endure one-hundred and forty-three minutes of their comedic and dramatic zaniness.
Instantly, anyone who paid attention to film last year has visions of August: Osage County dancing in their head, a far better and more elaborate drama that won me over because of how invested it was in character relations and dialog. This is Where I Leave You is, on the contrary, invested in sitcom behavior, featuring characters with large and overdrawn personalities and situational humor taking presence over verbal wit or conversational realism. The sole intriguing Altman sibling is Judd, for he has a real problem on his hands, and whenever we get involved in talking about his particular situation is when writer Jonathan Tropper (who also wrote the book of the same name) decided to paint a more honest and emotional picture of these characters. Everything else, given the presence of Adam Driver's obnoxious Phillip character and Jane Fonda's equally obnoxious and annoying Hillary, is rooted in goofy comedy, which goes far beyond my personal threshold for family zaniness.
When the film wants to turn a bit more emotional, Tropper makes it interesting enough, at least giving these characters more to think about and place into perspective. However, the feature out of his control was the film's editing, which is crafted in a way to be emotionally manipulative, cuing the right slow-song to get the emotional rise out of the material. The more we cycle to find the broadly-drawn humor of the story, the strange characters in their own peculiar situations, and the emotional manipulation that could be crafted out of the material, the more we feel like we're watching an extended pilot for a new fall primetime program than a theatrical film.
Again, This is Where I Leave You has the partial-saving grace of multiple talented people working all in one picture, with everyone doing a pretty commendable job, even if their characters are partially annoying. Tina Fey reminds audiences why she's often considered one of the funniest females in comedy today by her one-liners, and Jason Bateman's heartbreak treads the line of potentially being close to home for some. However, take a step back and look at the film that encompasses these fine actors and you'll see one filled with unsubtle emotions and lackluster comedy, making for a painfully uneven ride through what could've been a hearty depictions of the commonalities of family.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne, and Abigail Spencer. Directed by: Shawn Levy.
The film centers around the Altman family, who are united following the death of their patriarch, who's dying wish was for the family to sit Shiva, a Jewish tradition meaning that everyone in the family must live under the same roof for the next week, so we are told by Hillary (Jane Fonda), the Altman's mother. The four Altman siblings, who are all emotionally damaged or troubled in some way, find this to be a daunting task for many reasons: Judd (Jason Bateman), for one, has recently witness his wife having sex with his boss, Wendy (Tina Fey) has a marriage that is failing due to her husband's frequent absence, Phillip (Adam Driver) is an immature playboy unwilling to give up his childish ways, and Paul (Corey Stoll), while seeming like the only sibling who has his ducks in order, still finds ways to be too confrontational with his siblings or too hardened in his own way of thinking. Together, this family must tolerate each other for a week to adhere to their dying father's wish, and we must endure one-hundred and forty-three minutes of their comedic and dramatic zaniness.
Instantly, anyone who paid attention to film last year has visions of August: Osage County dancing in their head, a far better and more elaborate drama that won me over because of how invested it was in character relations and dialog. This is Where I Leave You is, on the contrary, invested in sitcom behavior, featuring characters with large and overdrawn personalities and situational humor taking presence over verbal wit or conversational realism. The sole intriguing Altman sibling is Judd, for he has a real problem on his hands, and whenever we get involved in talking about his particular situation is when writer Jonathan Tropper (who also wrote the book of the same name) decided to paint a more honest and emotional picture of these characters. Everything else, given the presence of Adam Driver's obnoxious Phillip character and Jane Fonda's equally obnoxious and annoying Hillary, is rooted in goofy comedy, which goes far beyond my personal threshold for family zaniness.
When the film wants to turn a bit more emotional, Tropper makes it interesting enough, at least giving these characters more to think about and place into perspective. However, the feature out of his control was the film's editing, which is crafted in a way to be emotionally manipulative, cuing the right slow-song to get the emotional rise out of the material. The more we cycle to find the broadly-drawn humor of the story, the strange characters in their own peculiar situations, and the emotional manipulation that could be crafted out of the material, the more we feel like we're watching an extended pilot for a new fall primetime program than a theatrical film.
Again, This is Where I Leave You has the partial-saving grace of multiple talented people working all in one picture, with everyone doing a pretty commendable job, even if their characters are partially annoying. Tina Fey reminds audiences why she's often considered one of the funniest females in comedy today by her one-liners, and Jason Bateman's heartbreak treads the line of potentially being close to home for some. However, take a step back and look at the film that encompasses these fine actors and you'll see one filled with unsubtle emotions and lackluster comedy, making for a painfully uneven ride through what could've been a hearty depictions of the commonalities of family.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne, and Abigail Spencer. Directed by: Shawn Levy.