Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 2 ratings
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
This Is Where I Leave You is a competent but fairly formulaic ensemble family dramedy. The plot hits recognizable beats of the dysfunctional-family-reunion genre — estranged siblings, buried secrets, old flames — without subverting or elevating them meaningfully. The acting is the film's strongest asset, boasting a deep ensemble cast (Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Jane Fonda) who bring genuine warmth and chemistry, though the material doesn't always give them room to fully shine. Cinematography is workmanlike and unremarkable, serving the story without any particular visual ambition. Novelty is low — it treads well-worn territory covered by films like The Royal Tenenbaums or August: Osage County more distinctively. The ending resolves threads in a tidy, somewhat predictable fashion that feels emotionally adequate but not especially resonant or surprising.