When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-sp...
This Is Where I Leave You left me wanting more laughs and less destructive drama. Grieving is always a solemn time for solace and melancholy. To reflect upon the life that has departed, recounting the flourishing memories shared with them. A chance for fragmented families to rejoin as a unit once more, offering emotional support for one another. Well, for the Altmans, whose patriarchal father had sadly passed away, that’s not the case. A boisterous family consisting of four siblings whom each inhibit their own overbearing issues. There’s Judd whom recently witnessed his wife cheat on him with his loud-mouthed ever-growing heterosexual boss, only to then reconcile with his high school friend who was incidentally madly in love with him. Wendy, being married to a workaholic, rekindles a burning flame with her childhood friendly neighbour. Paul whom is unable to provide his wife Annie with a child due to infertility, despite trying repeatedly during the seven days of shiva that their father supposedly demanded. And finally Phillip, the man-child playboy entrepreneur of the family. Rather predictably, being confined to their mother’s home for seven days produced bickering, brawls and bail outs between the self-destructive siblings, whom all seemingly yearn to make their lives even more complicated.
Levy’s “dramedy” is equipped with an outstandingly talented cast of both comedy and dramatic prowess, yet frustratingly strolls along at a pedestrian pace. Driver, Bateman, Fey, Byrne, Stoll, Olyphant and even Fonda all in the same feature? That’s madness! Unsurprisingly, they all supply compelling performances that bring joyous life into their characters, with Fey offering a career-best presentation that balances emotional complexity with comedic execution.
However, Tropper’s screenplay, for which he adapted his own book, generally painted unlikeable characters. Family members who would make the very worst relationship decisions, by seemingly committing adultery with every member of their neighbourhood in the space of seven days, that makes them no better morally than Judd’s counterpart for example. It’s careless characterisation that only had one purpose, to create drama. Whilst it does provide a development strand for adult responsibilities, it does so through a predictable mesh of sub-plots. Certain characters, notably Olyphant’s Horry, were underused and acted as mere plot devices. The forced and absolutely unnecessary climactic lesbian revelation was, well, pointless to say the least. Again, supplying the narrative with this abhorrent self-destructive force within these supposedly married couples, culminating into reconciling acceptance.
And finally, the obvious flaw, Levy was unable to blend weak comedy with overbearing drama effectively. The poignant moments of reflection produced the largest impact and certainly had its moments. The comedy however? Non-existent. Mostly relying upon profanity and phallic jokes. It’s a dire shame that the screenplay reduced the onscreen performances to predictable belligerents.
Whilst the end product is an easy and watchable feature, the pedestrian pace and lack of morality certainly left me with no impression. Olyphant and Driver though! Phwoar...
