This is Where I Leave You
"This is Where I Leave You" doesn't provide many surprises. It's a pretty standard "repressed family reunion," albeit with a very good cast that doesn't quite have the material it deserves.
Jason Bateman is Judd Altman, who learns of his father's death just days after catching his wive (Abigail Spencer) and boss (Dax Shepard) sleeping together. Judd returns home, coming back into contact with his sister Wendy (Tina Fey), who's also trapped in a loveless marriage, Phillip (Adam Driver), his younger brother dating an older woman, and Paul (Corey Stoll), who is having trouble conceiving with his wife Tracy (Connie Britton). The cast is rounded out by Jane Fonda as the mother of the Altmans and Rose Byrne and Timothy Olyphant as two of the kids' hometown love interests.
The cast is good, but the movie is pretty lethargic, floating from sitcom scenario to sitcom scenario. A baby monitor left on in the room when two people are having sex; the older mother speaking candidly of her youthful sexcapades; the brothers reconnecting over joints found in their father's jacket. The only actor who doesn't seem committed to making the material work is Fey, who seems detached with every line she delivers.
Most of the comedy is shockingly dry. I lost count trying to count how much of the movie relies on the various younger actors trying to shush Fonda while she says something openly sexual, or reacting angrily to other characters telling dirty childhood secrets to a crowd. Sex is openly the primary form of both drama and comedy in the film, and it becomes just a little repetitive towards the end. There's not a lot of cleverness to be had in "This is Where I Leave You."
"Standard" is maybe the best way to describe the film. While it's fun to watch a very, very talented cast of actors play off each other, the material doesn't rise to the occasion. Aside from the cast, the best I can say is that "This is Where I Leave You" doesn't overstay its welcome. At a reasonable 103 minutes, it comes in, tells a story, lets some good actors play and then leaves off with a nice uplifting ending.