Movie Review: ‘This Is Where I Leave You’ With Jason Bateman and Tina Fey

By Kyle Osborne

“This Is Where I Leave You” stars one of my favorite guys for the past 5 or 10 years—Jason Bateman. He comes home to find his wife cheating on him with his boss, and barely settles in to a bachelor’s apartment before learning that his father has died.

The Death of Dad sets up a dysfunctional family reunion, over which matriarch Jane Fonda presides. It’s a bit confusing in that they’re not exactly Jewish, apparently,  but Father’s dying wish was for his four kids and Mom to sit Shiva for seven days. Again—a device to squeeze all the differing personalities together for maximum drama and comedy—or to use that word I’m not so fond of: “Dramedy.”

There’s a lot to like about the film, and enough B-level sit-com humor to make you yell “Oy!” more than a few times. But if you put aside the cornball and the Matzo balls and focus on Bateman and Tina Fey, who plays his long suffering sister, you might just find yourself touched by their relationship, as they confide in each other on the roof top of their childhood home. They’re comedic timing and ability to grab your empathy by the collar are unmatched.

“This is Where I Leave You”, like  ‘The Maze Runner’  , is going to make for just fine home viewing not too far down the road. And if you think, just by watching the trailer, that this is your kind of movie–then you’re right. It is.  “This Is Where I Leave You” gets a friendly 2 ½ out of 4 Stars.

Watch The Trailer