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Review: This is Where I Leave You D+

I hold Shawn Levy’s comedies close to my heart just as much the next gal, but This is Where I Leave You missed the mark for me, big time.
The only redeeming factor was the actors cast in the movie, which included many personal favorites: the sassy Tina Fey, the aging–yet forever attractive– Jason Bateman, the quirky Jane Fonda, the scruffy Adam Driver, the adorable Rose Byrne, and countless more.
The movie depicts the dysfunctional Altman siblings dealing with their mourning, widowed mother after the death of their father. Needless to say, the film was an uncomfortable combination of sad and funny: it just didn’t mesh.
The clash between the serious and comical aspects of the film was the primary downfall that plagued the plot and characters throughout.
Besides that, the plot line was mediocre and, quite frankly, disorganized. The lead confusingly shifted focus between siblings Wendy (Fey) to Judd (Bateman).
Bateman, as usual, was impeccable in his acting mannerisms, but the character he played was only sub-par. Judd Altman, the “level-headed” brother, experiences a mid-life crisis with his pregnant, cheating wife and high school sweetheart, all while managing to grieve over his father’s death.
Unfortunately, Fey disappointed with an amateur performance during the serious scenes. Our cherished Tina is cut out for SNL and famous rom-coms, not uninspired movies.
Director Shawn Levy wowed me with his previous classics: Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Panther, The Internship, and Big Fat Liar, just to name a few. But this time, This Is Where I Leave You just didn’t make the cut.
Despite the fact that This Is Where I Leave You was labeled a comedy, in reality it was an awkward and sometimes inappropriate discord between two contrasting genres. A movie that had the opportunity to be successful because of it’s esteemed cast completely fell through the cracks.

Written by Uma Vaingankar

Uma Vaingankar is a junior and the Centerspread editor. She is a free spirit and spontaneous soul and enjoys spending her free time in the out doors. She likes going on hikes and spending all day soaking up the sun at the beach with her friends during the summer. She says that cliff-diving at Sunset Cliffs was the most memorable and dare-devilish thing she has ever done. Uma has been part of the varsity Cross Country and distance Track & Field team since her freshman year and is very close with her team mates. Her favorite memory from Cross Country was when she and her fellow sophomores won their grade-division title at the MC Moving Shoes invite last year. She aspires to get an MBA and open up a bakery shop in her retirement.

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