I think I'm going to have to stop predicting what movies that are coming out in the future are going to be good. Because there seems to be an influx of GREAT movie trailers for movies that are... not so much. I thought This Is Where I Leave You looked like the funny, serious, poignant dysfunctional family film that we've been waiting for. Yet, instead of being any sort of resemblance of a movie with any coherence of its characters, story, or message... it winds up being a slightly better regurgitation of Dan In Real Life. That's not a compliment.
I had a lot of issues with the movie. The first being the characters themselves. Yes, Jason Bateman IS Jason Bateman. He's the same character in everything he's in. He's inherently likable and very dry witted. This is what makes him great. He's got his character down... and it's not for everybody... but those who like the character will probably never tire of the character (unlike that of Michael Cera or Zach Galifinakis or Melissa McCarthy whose characters have all but run themselves into the ground). So, Bateman is the star of the movie and he's very likable, very watchable. It's everyone else around him. Tina Fey. She's so smart. She's so funny. She's shown us her vulnerable side a number of times both on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, and to an extent, Admission. But here... it's like she was asked to do a favor for someone. She never has more than one expression on her face the entire time... and when she's asked to sob... um... I know you have it in you, girl. Must've just been an off day.
I'm not too familiar with Adam Driver. I've never watched Girls, but I figured since he'd been cast as the lead villain in the newest Star Wars trilogy, he's got to have some acting chops. From this performance alone, I can say that I'm not the biggest Adam Driver fan. It may have just been the writing, but he tried so hard to convince you that he was the family fuck-up that he irritated everyone. I was given no moment of clarity with his character where I saw why anyone gave two shits about him, much less why in any universe he'd ever have a fiance. His comedic timing was also a bit off. There'd be an attempt at a funny moment, that the viewer could recognize was going to be a funny moment, but somehow his timing would skew it just enough that it wouldn't illicit a laugh.
Actually, the funniest person in the movie was Jane Fonda. Her character was great as the mourning dirty old mom with a few hidden agendas up her sleeve. It was hilarious hearing her spout dirty things while her kids, mostly Bateman, cringed. Yet, she's scarcely used. Her character should be the second biggest focus of the film, yet we lose her for half hours at a time. She comes in randomly to say something a little off-colour and then be gone again. She was amazing, yet the most under-utilized.
Another problem with the movie is that A. there were too many characters in the movie trying to solve too many (a little bit outrageous) problems all at once, but the biggest kick in the dick is that B. THEY'RE ALL HAVING THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM! Bateman's wife cheats on him with his boss so he's going through a divorce. Tina Fey's husband is a workaholic asshole who she doesn't love, but loves the guy across the street instead, someone she sleeps with while she's married and will now probably go through a divorce. Bateman's other brother is married to Bateman's ex and they're trying to get pregnant, but can't, so she opts to try and cheat on her husband with Bateman so she can get a baby. Adam Driver is a womanizer who has brought home a much older woman... who he cheats on, but can't figure out why she's so uptight and wants to leave her. Fonda... well, let's just all say that there is SOOOOOOOOO much going on that it's hard to give a shit about any of them. We're given crazy, yet similar life problems in favor of any real characterization here. We don't know any of them except by their outer layer. Bateman is uptight and predictable. Solid. Tina Fey is the stressed mother. Other brother is the hard ass. Driver is the screw up (and boy do they hammer that point hard).
There was just too much going on all at once that it was difficult to stop and care about anyone at any one time. These white-people dysfunctional family movies like Dan In Real Life or like The Family Stone all try to do too much and don't focus on the heart of the problem. The one movie that did everything right, because it used subtlety and actual characters instead of these stock characters we see all the time is Little Miss Sunshine. That movie showed family dysfunction at its finest and gave equal time to each character. No one character had a problem that was similar to other and no one problem outweighed the other. Each character was likable and you knew that though they were dysfucntional... they really couldn't function without each other at all. None of this could be said for This Is Where I Leave You.
C-
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