This Is Where I Leave You

Based on Jonathan Tropper’s vastly superior novel, This Is Where I Leave You follows Jason Bateman’s Judd Altman as he returns to his hometown to sit shiva after his father dies suddenly – with the film detailing the various familial conflicts that naturally ensue. It’s clear almost immediately that filmmaker Shawn Levy just doesn’t have the right sensibility for this material, as the director, known for his fluffy, decidedly comedic offerings, has infused This Is Where I Leave You with a terminally lightweight feel that grows more and more problematic as time progresses – as the absence of authentically heartfelt moments ultimately proves disastrous (ie the film possesses the feel of a glorified sitcom, for the most part). There’s little doubt, then, that the movie benefits substantially from the efforts of its stellar cast, with folks like Bateman, Adam Driver, Tina Fey, and Corey Stoll sporadically breathing some life into the otherwise inert proceedings. Tropper’s screenplay, however, leaves the various performers with too little to do, as the scattered narrative results in a disappointing absence of satisfying character arcs for many of the movie’s protagonists. There is, as a result, little or no emotional resonance within the movie’s climactic stretch, which ultimately does confirm This Is Where I Leave You‘s place as a misbegotten, ineffective adaptation.

** out of ****