This Is Where I Leave You

I have anticipated seeing This Is Where I Leave You before I even saw a trailer for it. The movie met all my expectations and was hilarious. The film is now among my favorite dysfunctional family flicks. It's right up there with Home for the Holidays, the Family Stone and the Royal Tenenbaums. The tagline is great, Welcome Home. Get Uncomfortable. I was also lucky enough to see the movie at a screening before its wide release Friday September 19th. The excellent cast is so large that not all of them are featured on the movie poster.

Jane Fonda shines as the matriarch of hilarious siblings, Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, and Adam Driver. Bateman and Fey need no introduction. Stoll was Hemingway in Midnight in Paris and one of the angry passengers in Non-Stop. Driver is best know for Girls and is in the new Star Wars. Rounding out the supporting cast are Rose Byrne, Timothy Olyphant, Connie Britton and Kathryn Hahn.

The writing is fantastic. It is the kind of movie that you know you will have to rewatch so that you can catch the dialogue that you were laughing over. The screenplay was written by Jonathan Tropper, the author of the novel the film is based on. I can not wait to read the book. There is also a great soundtrack.

The movie balances snark and heartwarming in just the right way. If the tone were focused on one more than the other, the result could have been mean spirited or corny. If you love a good dysfunctional family comedy, you will really enjoy This Is Where I Leave You.