This is Where I Leave You (2014), R, ★1/2

All of the family grounded for a week. Really?

How does it look when family members who do not see each other for a while just become awkward in a delicate situation? There is always an isolated by-standard in a family that could not pertain his or her feelings in front of a loved one and somehow becomes silent for the remainder of his or her visit. But in this dramedy, it seems that when conflicting situations seems to go worse as someone's father passes away, all of the family reunites. It has a funny premise when watching the trailer, but the film does not have any sharp clarity as how thin the characters are written, especially the female characters and the jokes are more misses than hits.

Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) works a popular radio station and after work, he gets a cake for Quinn's (Abigail Spencer) birthday, his wife. But, unfortunately, he comes home to find his wife having sex with the host at the popular radio station, Wade Beaufort (Dax Shepard). He asks how long it has been going on and Quinn replies that it has been going on a year. And, what do you know, this is where he leaves her.

His sister, Wendy (Tina Fey) calls Judd about the sad news about their father's death. So, they all congregate at the funeral where all the Altmans gather together consisting of: older brother Paul (Corey Stoll) and his wife Annie (Kathryn Hahn), their mother, Hillary (Jane Fonda), with her breast implantation and the youngest brother, Philip (Adam Driver) who inexplicably rides in the funeral with blasting a DMX song and running loudly to greet his mother and siblings. After the funeral, his father's wish was for the family to sit shiva, meaning they have to be grounded together for a week.

Everybody reunites and tells everyone what they are up to leading to predictable situations such as a couple trying to conceive and revealing what happened to each character in the past. We also see Philip bringing a woman who is his therapist, Tracy (Connie Britton), who is a fan of Hillary's writing. And, we see Judd meeting a childhood crush named Penny (Rose Byrne) and Horry Callen (Timothy Olyphant), Wendy's ex-boyfriend who had suffered a brain injury. The whole remainder of the movie is about bonding and also establishing relationships between some couples.

Why are Bateman and Stoll still in the classroom?

I have many problems with the film. The main problem is that it is very predictable because when it comes to Shawn Levy, the director of the Night of the Museum series, Date Night (which I liked), Real Steel (which was a surprise), and the ridiculous The Internship, is hit-and-miss but this film relies on elderly boob jokes, poop jokes, slapstick, and pretentious dialogue that seems to go no where or on a route that has again, a predictable pay-off. And, then, there are scenes in the movie that seem too arbitrary that I ponder why the backstory to the couple of characters are in the script to begin with.

Speaking of characters in the film, the cast is a remarkable talented group that the film is overstuffed. Bateman actually plays the best character in the film who has a downer of a life after catching his wife in bed with the radio host. It is the most drawn character in the film. Another problem is the thinly drawn female characters. They don't bring any emphasis or drive to the film. The most disappointing is Tina Fey's character, who is know for her improvised comic talents, does not bring any development to the film. Rose Byrne's character is unnecessarily there to basically form a relationship that is just fluff. Britton's character does not do anything special. Jane Fonda's character is served as a caricature for jokes about her breasts. They all serve as a purpose for the wrong reasons.

I will admit that the film starts out well with Bateman being sulky and the funeral scene is pretty amusing and comical and the shiva sitting was funny. But, that's it. I will praise that amount of effort they try to give it but it doesn't sell. Levy just relies way too much on the cast to do what they do the best. The narrative lacks coherence with too many stories and characters and the manipulated sentimentality comes at a time when it's overbearing that the filmmakers are desperate to get your attention. Yep, this is where they leave the movie to me to suffer throughout the whole experience.

*1/2