Movie Reaction: This Is Where I Leave You

Formula: (Death at a Funeral / Grown Ups) * The Family Stone
or
August: Orange County Lite

I'd watch anything with this cast.

Why I Saw It: See Cast.

Cast: Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Adam Driver (Girls), Corey Stoll (House of Cards, season 1), Jane Fonda (Klute, Coming Home), Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Neighbors), Kathryn Hahn (Parks & Rec and everywhere else), Connie Britton (FNL), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Dax Shepard (Parenthood), Abigail Spencer (Rectify), Ben Schwartz (Parks & Rec. again).
Are you kidding me!? That is a ridiculous cast that basically represents everything I've loved on TV for the past decade, not to mention the cinema classics. Cut that cast in half and it still sounds implausible that everyone can be well-served in one movie and that's exactly what happens here. No one is able to stand out. I respect the hell out of all of them for showing up though.

Plot: This certainly falls under the category of "White People Problems" movies. Bateman, Fey, Driver, and Stoll play four estranged siblings who get called back home to do a shiva for their recently deceased father. Or, more transparently stated, the story contrives to put them in the same place for enough time that drama can ensue. Bateman has split with his wife because he catches her having an affair with his boss. Fey is stuck in a loveless marriage. Stoll can't get his wife (Hahn) pregnant. Driver is an irresponsible mess. There's a lot of story for all of them beyond that, and the screenplay does everything it can to fit it all in there. The direction tries to give everyone a moment to shine too. I wish that the movie could overcome the busy-ness of the story, but it really can't.

Elephant in the Room: Is it a comedy or a drama? It's a dramedy and there's two types of dramedy: 1) a movie that transcends standard genre classifiers and comes up with a tone all its own. 2) a movie that can't decide which it wants to be or thinks the only way to prevent the drama from being too much of a drag is to throw in a poop joke to cut the tension. This Is Where I Leave You falls more into the latter type. Unsurprisingly, given the cast, the comedy works much better than the drama. It's basically impossible to put a combination of Fey, Bateman, etc. in a scene and not get a laugh if that's the aim. The movie switches between all the stories so much that when it's time for a big dramatic beat, it either comes out of nowhere or doesn't feel earned.

To Sum Things Up:
This Is Where I Leave You is ok. Phenomenal cast that is worth the price of admission. The plot doesn't successfully translate from its original medium (a book) to a movie. It has that thing where a line that reads powerfully in a book comes off as hokey when delivered in a movie. I'll admit that when I saw this, it kind of ruined my day. I'm not sure why. It's not a bad movie by any means. It's kind of a "life sucks, but the little victories keep us going" movie. I'll either rewatch it at some point and like it a little bit more than I do now or stubbornly not bother seeing it again. I'm not sure which. Regardless, see it for the cast, not the story.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend