This Is Where I Leave You Review

RYAN: This is a new dramedy with a killer ensemble cast and they’re all so good in it, with great moments.  Some of them you want more of because they have smaller parts.  It’s primarily Jason Bateman’s movie and he’s as good as he ever is. He shows some grey range.  Tina Fey is great too but suffers a bit because we’re so conditioned to seeing her as a funny person that in the dramatic moments, it’s like you don’t know whether she’s trying to be funny or ironic or sarcastic or whatever.  She’s hard to process and that works against her a bit but she’s still great.  Also – her hair looked like she was doing a hair commercial the whole time.

CHUCK: She did have fantastic hair.  I did feel in the whole movie like I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to laugh or not supposed to laugh.  The lines were a bit muddled; not necessarily a bad thing.  You can’t go wrong with a cast like this.  Even Adam Driver, who I’m not the biggest fan of, I liked his character.

RYAN: This is his deepest performance I’ve seen.  He didn’t do the typical weird speech patterns he’s done in other projects.

CHUCK: All I know him from is TV’s Girls. Maybe it’s just the character.

RYAN: I liked these characters and their relationships so much that I kept thinking it would be so cool if this were a TV series.  I’d totally tune in every week to see them.

CHUCK: It’s funny you say that because I was thinking this was like an entire season of a show like Brothers and Sisters condensed all in one film.

RYAN:  I felt invested in them.  All the layers and interpersonal conflicts were interesting.

CHUCK: It might have wired better as a series where you could flesh them all out more. I thought there was one too many characters, story lines, etc…

RYAN: It was a lot but I liked it for the story.  Some of it was quick but I dug it.  They’ve all done TV – I’d take a show any day.  The screenplay was written by the author of the book this is adapted from.  He’s good.  There are some surprises and I love good dramedy.  I didn’t really LOL but certainly chortled a couple times. I also didn’t cry but I was into it.

CHUCK: I did well up with tears at one point but I cry at everything.  The other thing this reminded me of was Home for the Holidays.  It has the same tone and I love that movie as well.  And because there are so many story lines, I think a second viewing of this film would be beneficial.

RYAN: I loved seeing Abigail Spencer in this. She had a small role in Oz the Great and Powerful.  She’s also now on TV but I liked her in this as Jason Bateman’s wife.  I like Dax Shepard.

CHUCK: I didn’t love him in this.  But it might just be his character.

RYAN: I like how it’s a very complete movie.  There is a beginning, middle and end and there are no loose ends.  I appreciate that sometimes, as in this case.

CHUCK: It does wrap it up in a nice bow.

RYAN: Things are all set up and you don’t realize there’s a set up going on until it all resolves but it’s great.  Can we talk about Jane Fonda’s boobs which in this movie are practically a character unto themselves?  They wet such a running joke.  It’s a fun family ensemble dramedy.  It’s the kind of movie you will find yourself easily rewatching whenever you catch it on cable someday.

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