Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 43 mins
Warner Brothers
Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Meet the Altman family. Judd (Bateman) just came home early to find his wife (Abigail Spencer) in bed with his boss (Dax Shepard). Oldest brother Paul (Corey Stoll) is doing everything and more to get his wife pregnant. Sister Wendy (Fey) is the family sounding board. And youngest brother Phillip (Adam Driver) is still the kid who has never grown up. When their father dies they are summoned by their mother Hilary (Fonda) to “sit Shiva” for seven days in the family home. It may turn out to be the longest week of all their lives.
An incredibly emotional ensemble piece, perfectly matching laughter and tears, “This Is Where I Leave You” is the first official Oscar contender of the fall. As the siblings spend time in the house they grew up in, their memories of their lives, both with and without their father, overtake them. A vulnerable Judd rekindles a friendship with an old flame (a perfectly cast Rose Byrne) while Phillip shows up driving a Porsche carrying his much older girlfriend – and psychiatrist – (Connie Britton). Paul, who helped his dad run the family’s sporting goods business, is appalled that he must now share it with his siblings while Wendy must deal with an old romance with the boy (Timothy Olyphant) across the street, a former shell of himself mentally due to a car accident. “Is it the whole world or just our family,” Judd asks at one point. Overseeing the brood, Mama Hilary (and her newly augmented breasts) does her best to have the answers to all of her children’s questions even though she has no one to help answer hers.
The cast is spot on perfect. Bateman and Stoll deliver as the two voices of reason while Fey shows a very little seen dramatic side. Fonda shows why she has been a star for almost 50 years (“Cat Ballou” came out in 1965). But the scene stealer here is Driver, who I was only familiar with thanks to small roles in “Lincoln” and “Inside Llewelyn Davis” and has a recurring role in the HBO comedy “Girls.” Every time he is on screen you can’t help but be drawn to his energy. Driver has a top-secret role in the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode VII” and my fingers are crossed that he’s playing Han Solo’s son. He has that roguish quality about him (like Harrison Ford did in the first film) that makes it almost impossible to dislike him.
As fall approaches the weather is changing and so are the films. I hope you take the opportunity to spend some time with the Altman family.