Respond to these rapid questions in our This Is Where I Leave You quiz and we will tell you which This Is Where I Leave You character you are. Play it now.
Only one member of the dysfunctional clan at the heart of the inevitably disappointing “This Is Where I Leave You” comes close to being happy in life. That’s the potty-training kid who loves to take his portable throne outside and do his business while admiring the Westchester County scenery. Anyone else’s neurotic complaining pales in comparison to his Zen approach to pooping.
It’s also possible that “sh—” is Shawn Levy’s favorite curse word in his first R-rated comedy based on the “Night at the Museum” franchise.
It’s also conceivable that the child is the most mature person on the screen.
Otherwise, it’s grumble, gripe, gripe and snipe, snipe, snipe, all served family-style with the utmost relatability. True, the appearance of comic pros Jason Bateman and Tina Fey, as well as It dude of the moment Adam Driver and “House of Cards'” Corey Stoll as a quartet of disgruntled siblings, goes a long way toward masking the flaws of a script that falls short of the book on which it’s based.
The presence of Jane Fonda, more radiant than ever at 76, who is much more at home with humor now than she was in her early ’60s “Barefoot in the Park” starlet days, is also a welcome distraction. She’s quite amusing as a Mom-zilla, demanding that her children reunite and sit Shiva for seven days following the passing of their non-religious Jewish father. “You’re all grounded,” she informs her scowling offspring about the ritual that their patriarch ostensibly desired.
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Her Hillary, a child therapist and serial over-sharer (she extols her late husband’s sexual prowess to anyone who will listen), is best known for her infamous parenting book, “Cradle and All,” which still has her brood fuming over the private family secrets she spilled to the world. Meanwhile, Fey’s Wendy, a dissatisfied homemaker and mother of two (including the aforementioned pooper) with a work-obsessed husband, responds to her mother’s insistence on tradition with this observation: “Mom, you’re sitting in the exact same spot we put our Christmas tree.”
Fonda manages to keep her decorum despite the fact that her character’s recent boob job is mocked one (or two, or three) times too many. Other performers aren’t as fortunate.
Everyone gets one major problem to obsess over, though Bateman–who played the novel’s narrator, Judd–gets a few extras, as well as being physically knocked to the ground at least three times. His perfectionist Manhattan radio producer has been in a funk since finding that his wife would rather have sex with his boss, a sexist-pig shock jock (Dax Shepard), than blow out the candles on her custom-made cake for her birthday. In one fell swoop, I lost my employment, my spouse, and my home. And, as fate would have it, no father, either.
This Is Where I Leave You Quiz
Bateman gets the closest to making “This Is Where I Leave You” bearable. But, at this point in his career, he’s been the finest part of far too many mediocre films. And the abrupt shift into more serious issues later in the film is beyond his abilities.
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Stoll plays the resentful eldest brother, Paul, who remained close to home and ran a sporting-goods business with their father. Despite possible infertility issues, he and wife Annie (Kathryn Hahn) are desperate to have a baby and try to have one every opportunity they get. The fact that Annie used to be Judd’s girlfriend adds to Paul’s rage.
As the youngest child Phillip, a feckless playboy with a hot car and a hotter older woman on his arm (Connie Britton of TV’s “Nashville,” who is a successful therapist like Hillary, which suggests some Oedipal themes are at work), Driver fills that role as well as he can.
Yes, there are some hilarious one-liners given with relish by this cast, but they sound as if they were said by a writer rather than a real person. Conflicts become even more complicated–and less interesting–when Judd’s estranged wife and his ex-boss participate in the so-called fun. You can almost anticipate where it’s all going as old grudges are aired and former flames resurface. Except for one major reveal near the conclusion.
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Given that author Jonathan Tropper directed the film adaptation of his best-selling novel, he has only himself to thank. For some reason, the surname of this fractious clan has been changed from Foxman to Altman, possibly as a nod to the cinematic master of such long ensemble pieces. If that’s the case, “This Is Where I Leave You” is probably what would have happened if Robert Altman ever felt the need to create a TV sitcom after losing his sense of nuance. One that would have ended after one season.
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These types of family-gathering vehicles have such a long history, ranging from 1938’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” which won the best picture Oscar, to last year’s “August: Osage County,” that it is one of the more difficult genres to pull off. Levy deserves credit for attempting something new. But the next time he makes an adult-oriented film, he should strive a little harder.
