Anyone who has ever attended a large family gathering knows from firsthand experience that while they are certainly noble in intention, they are, at best, inconsistent in outcome. This Is Where I Leave You is an honest portrayal of the archetypal dysfunctional family, who, for one reason or another, can’t help but be at each other’s throats. We are drawn to these movies because we identify with the families within them; we may not find ourselves ensnared in hijinks quite as often as they are, but at least some of the dysfunction and craziness hits close to home.
It is for this reason that the latest from director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Real Steel), is such a delightful movie — not because it is brilliant filmmaking (which, I assure you, it isn’t), but because it’s honest, heartfelt, hilarious, and rife with characters and situations that are easy to identify with.
Based on the book by Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I Leave You tells the story of the four combatant siblings of the Altman family, who are forced to reconvene in their childhood home to sit shiva (a weeklong period of mourning and bereavement, as dictated by Jewish custom) for their recently deceased father.
The story centres on Judd (Jason Bateman), the Altman middle child, who has lost his wife and his job in one fell swoop (read: his boss slept with his wife). The death of the Altman father figure brings Judd back to his hometown, where he reconnects with his sister Wendy (Tina Fey), who is now a responsible mother; his earnest and mature older brother Paul (Corey Stoll), who oversees the family’s sporting goods business; his younger, promiscuous, and charmingly reckless brother Phil (Adam Driver); and his hypersexual mother (Jane Fonda), a celebrity psychologist whose four children are still reeling from being the subject of her best-selling parenting guide.
Like The Royal Tenenbaums, Ron Howard’s Parenthood, or Arrested Development, This Is Where I Leave You’s comedic magic lies in the familial interplay. Bateman’s delivery and timing is, consistently, absolutely perfect, and his chemistry with Fey, Driver, Stoll, and Fonda yield some of the film’s biggest laughs. Most of the actors here have honed their craft on network or cable half-hour comedies (including a hysterical Ben Schwartz of Parks and Recreation fame), and none of the jokes – even the more foreseeable ones – ever fall flat. The true heart of the film, however, is when these characters get each other alone, with Levy and Tropper playing with varied character pairings to produce genuinely touching sibling interaction, pivotal revelations, and raw, relatable emotion.
Although its relatively predictable narrative arc doesn’t bring anything new to the table, This Is Where I Leave You’s first-rate cast performs cinematic alchemy, elevating a mediocre script into a great comedy that’ll strike a chord with family members alike.
Verdict: A mediocre comedy, worth seeing for its talented and charismatic cast
