100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 31: This is Where I Leave You

Director: Shawn Levy

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Runtime: 103 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, Dax Shepard, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Rose Byrne, Katherine Hahn, Abigail Spencer, Debra Monk

Description: When their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens.

Review: In “This is Where I Leave You” we follow a family that comes together after the father of the family died. There are a lot of unsolved issues, frictions and relationship problems and this doesn’t make the mourning process any easier.

After Judd finds his wife in bed with his boss, he gets a call from his sister Wendy, that their father passed away. His father wants to be buried within the Jewish tradition and this means they have a ‘sitting Shiva’. Here people will visit them for an entire week, to give them their condolences. Which also means that the family has to be together the entire time.

The family is a party of five: Judd, sister Wendy, oldest brother Paul, youngest brother Philip and mother Hilary. Judd is trying to deal with his upcoming divorce and he also bumps into a woman he used to like. Wendy is married with two children, but her husband is a work-aholic and she is secretly still in love with her first love Horry, who she was in an accident with. Paul and his wife Annie are desperately trying to have a child, but nothing has worked so far. Philip, who just brought home his new girlfriend Tracey who is much older, never really grew up. Mother Hilary has to deal with all her children, while also saying her final goodbyes to her husband.

The movie is a mix of drama and comedy, but the focus is more on the drama. Although that’s very light. There are subtle jokes and especially the dysfunctionality of the family is funny. All the characters are really interesting to get to know.

The cast is really good. Jason Bateman plays a role he has played before, but he is likeable and proofs he can carry a movie. Tina Fey is also strong in a more serious role then we are used to from her. Adam Driver is solid and Jane Fonda is delightful as the mother, who sometimes overshares information that as a kid you wouldn’t be very happy with.

“This is Where I Leave You” is an excellent film about a family with problems. Dysfunctional families somehow always interest me, it reminds me of how great mine is.

Rating: 4,5/ 5