REVIEW: This Is Where I Leave You

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

RATED: R

RUNNING TIME: 103 MINUTES

SCORE: *****/*****

 

PREMISE: (Via IMDB) When their father passes away, four grown siblings, bruised and banged up by their respective adult lives, are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and the frayed states of their relationships among the people who know and love them best, they ultimately reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways amid the chaos, humor, heartache and redemption that only families can provide-driving us insane even as they remind us of our truest, and often best, selves.

 

THE PRO'S: An absolute riot, fun characters, great character development, excellent ensemble cast, good message.

THE CON'S: Perhaps a little too short.

 

THE REVIEW:

 

This was a great little movie that I found myself very impressed with! I've saved the review of by far the best movie I've been putting off the review for, for last. And to top things off, it is absolutely one of the funniest movies in a while. But be warned if you've read the book, I have not, so this is from a non-fan of the book.

 

This Is Where I Leave You tells the story of the Altman Family. Who, upon their father's death, must sit shiva as their father's final wish before his death. The problem? This is a very dysfunctional family filled with secrets that slowly, one by one begin to come to light and cause chaos upon the entire event.

 

It's a very simple plot that is executed excellently and with great comedy. Jason Bateman and Tina Fey are by-far the standouts of the cast, but there really is no weak link or even "unfunny" person here. Everyone puts out a fantastic performance, and to top it off, their characters are just exceptionally real and fun. I really enjoyed getting to know each one, and also enjoyed watching them develop.

 

And develop they do. This is one movie with no lack of character development to be had. Each character has a very big evolution over the course of the movie. And for the sake of staying spoiler-free I won't give any of their journeys away. But I will say that I was very impressed wit the lengths the screenwriter went to make sure these were characters you would grow to care about and love.

 

The other thing it has going for it is that it is just so funny. It's not always trying to crack a joke, but when it does, it's side-splittingly funny. With my favorite taking place within a Hebrew school with the three brothers that pretty much stole the whole show. I could hardly keep myself from laughing so hard that I would disrupt the audience 90% of the time, and that is definitely what helps.

 

The only problem I really have to note here is simple: it's a little too short. I felt like the movie could have easily reached two hours or more, and not seemed to long or start dragging. In fact, I really would have loved to spend more time with the Altman family, and see more of their antics, as well as see their stories develop even further.

But that's okay, because ultimately, the shorter running time doesn't hinder it at all. And without a doubt, I can say that it's an enjoyable ride all the way through.

IN CONCLUSION
 

So, in short, this was pretty much one of the best, and funniest movies this year. If you're looking for a funny story, with a great message and a lot of heart, this is the movie for you. I cannot recommend it any more than I already have.

5 OUT OF 5 STARS

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