THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

As seen in

www.camrosecanadian.com

The ever funny Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses) and the incomparable Tina Fey (SNL) lead this ensemble cast in the ironically titled comedy-drama, This Is Where I Leave You. 

Bateman plays Judd Altman, a seemingly happy-go-lucky guy who works at a New York radio station for its controversial host Wade Beaufort (Dax Shepard, Punk’d).  One day, when Judd leaves early to surprise his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer), everything falls apart.  First he catches Quinn having an affair with Wade (turning his life and career upside down); later he gets a phone call from his sister Wendy (Fey) to inform him of his father’s passing.

Judd makes his way back to his hometown and meets with his family at the gravesite:  His mother Hillary (Jane Fonda, fitness guru and veteran actress) who is a successful family therapist and bestselling author, sister Wendy, younger and still immature brother Phillip (Adam Driver, TV’s Girls), and older brother Paul (Corey Stoll, Non-Stop).  As per their father’s last wish, the family must sit Shiva.  From the Hebrew translation for seven, sitting Shiva is literally sitting in the house and mourning for seven straight days.  But when you have a mother who metaphorically airs out more dirty laundry then a hospital, and the rest of the family having more than their fair share of personal issues they are dealing with, you have the makings of a messed up, dysfunctional, and just plain crazy flick.

The casting choices were really quite impressive to me.  It appeared most everybody knew their role. There was a varying amount of crazy that needed to be portrayed and I think they all pulled it off.  Jason Bateman has played crazy before (see: Smokin’ Aces) and does it well, Tina Fey is so versatile that nothing is unobtainable for her, and even Dax Shepard played the sleaze bag a little too perfect.  In a movie that had so many side stories going on that you may have needed a shot of steroids to keep up with, the actors did exactly what was required of them. And while this movie had lessons to teach, it didn’t really focus on just the one.  It had a very much “rekindling the past” going on, while it didn’t shy away from the whole “family will always be there for you, even when you don’t necessarily want them to be”.  In the end, it could all be summed up as “no family is perfect.”  You will see throughout why I called the title ironic.  However, the many scrambled messages and subplots did sort of mess up the pace for me (although I admit I’m not the smartest guy around, either).  All in all, the flick was very much worth it, if nothing else for the performances.  If you are debating between a comedy and a drama, why not take in both and check out this one.