A family are forced to spend a week together to honor their deceased father.I found this on Blu-ray in Pound Land so I was not expecting much.I was very pleasantly surprised. The siblings squabble and barb to great comedic affect. The characters were engaging and quite often charming. There is a lot of great talent here. I was most surprised by Tina Fey who so great that I now struggle to disengage her performance from her real life.Now this film probably does tug at one too many heart strings and near the end it does get a bit "Dawson's Creek" but I didn't mind for a minute.This is not laugh-out-loud but is a great, simple story; heart warming, humorous and very enjoyable.

'This Is Where I Leave You' is a good mix of funny moments and dramatic moments of reflection. It's basically the story of four siblings - Judd (Bateman), Wendy (Fey), Phillip (Driver) & Paul (Stoll) - and how they, along with their mum (Fonda), deal with their father's death. There's lots of squabbling and jibes, but also some nice scenes with some emotional depth.This film is slightly better than 'Date Night', Levy's similar film from a few years ago with Fey. It's not too long, is quite well paced and has a good soundtrack. My main gripe is that - since I can relate! - there wasn't a more fleshed-out character for Paul, the big brother. I think Phillip comes off being the most interesting, but it's enjoyable seeing how they all interact with each other & their sibling's partners. No real conclusion, but there is a few unnecessary spanners thrown in the works at the end.The best bits are when they all deal with the loss with some levity, especially aided by "Boner" the Rabbi (Schwartz), some of Fey's quips and the toilet-training kid. Byrne's good as Bateman's love interest, but since there's so many cast members, doesn't get enough screen time, along with Fonda.

When I was very young I sat down and watched a movie called Passed Away (1992) starring Bob Hoskins, Jack Warden, William Petersen and Tim Curry. It wasn't that great but as my earliest introduction to black comedy, specifically the reunion-at-a-funeral plot-line, it was gold. This is Where I Leave You is a little more somber in tone than Passed Away or for that matter Death at a Funeral (2007) but the plot is still roughly the same. A maladjusted family comes together to mourn the passing of the broods patriarch. Before, during and after the funeral family secrets are revealed, rivalries are renewed and dysfunction causes chaos.You mean this movie still doesn't make up for The Ex (2006)? This is Where I Leave You failed to get much critical or box-office attention despite a talented cast which includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda and Adam Driver. Part of that reason is because it's an uneasy blend of comedy and drama which never reaches the level of farce or sad-sack melodrama; it's somewhere in-between. Based on a memoir of the same name by Jonathan Tropper, This is Where I Leave You doesn't really focus on big revelations or reveals though there are a few sprinkled in. Its more about representing an interesting and unique family honestly and with affection. Can't really fault a movie for that.

When their father passes away, four grown siblings, return home to sit Shiva with their mother in "This is Where I Leave You," from 2014.The film stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, and Timothy Olyphant. Back where they started, the siblings confront their old lives and loves and reflect on where they are at present.What happens is funny, uncomfortable, sad, and unexpected as they put up with each other and their mother, who pays little attention to discretion as she brags about the sex life she had with her husband and the size of his ... sexuality. Jane Fonda is excellent, outspoken and surprisingly motherly, considering the personality of the character.I love Jason Bateman and watch him in anything in which he appears. He doesn't disappoint here as Judd, with his serious, straight-on delivery and his Everyman frustration. But that isn't to put down the rest of the cast, all of whom give good performances. Rose Byrne as Penny, Judd's old girlfriend, is a standout and again shows her versatility as an actress. Anyone who saw her intense performance on "Damages" can't fail to be impressed by this chipper, cheerful character. Family dynamics make for good movies if they're realistic. Though some of the reviewers here didn't feel they rang true, for me they did - bad marriages, old loves left behind, taking stock of what one has accomplished, and future goals -- the death of a parent and being around family is a time of contemplation."This is Where I Leave You" is good but it is an uneasy combination of comedy and drama, sort of not knowing which it wanted to be. On the one hand, Bateman and Fey are often associated with comedy, and then on the other, there were some serious issues covered.Worth checking out.