Leftbanker OK, I love family dramas. In General. This had about four things too many going on which is a common disease in this kind of film but there was also some great laughs. He finds a couple of joints in his father's sport coat. Dad was a stoner? No, it was probably medicinal. It always is."Classic. I remember in high school finding joints of the best Thai weed when I tried on my older brother's sport coat at his house in Hawaii. Classic. I was so rooting for a miscarriage. I honestly thing the world would be a better place if there were a lot more of those and a lot fewer accidental pregnancies, but I guess that I'm just a romantic at heart.

dansview Yes Jason Bateman plays the same kind of guy in most of his work, and it may even be close to his real personality. But either way, there is something likable about that guy. I don't if it's acting or what, but he's great. Without him, I would not have watched this.Regarding the Jewish aspect. They say up front that the mom is not Jewish (meaning I assume that she didn't even convert), and the dad is an atheist.So these people are secular, born to a non-Jewish woman, but with apparently some loose "Reform" Jewish identity. Let's not say that they are typical Jews. Even most of the actors were non-Jewish. Having said that, it presents a horrible family and makes them seem Jewish. So be prepared for that if it's bothersome.But there's more to that. Clearly these people are living Godless lives and never fully understand the relationship between that fact, and their disappointments. (That is probably true for the film makers, or people in Hollywood in general) Yet, I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the writer used the vehicle of religious ritual (sitting together for a week to mourn a loved one)as a means toward some spiritual or moral reckoning, and that seems to be a pro-religion statement.The Bateman character lacks "alpha" qualities. That's probably why his wife went with an alpha male, and why he never really lived his life to the fullest. They don't identify this by name, but it's really one of the core themes affecting millions of men around the globe. Beta males live in the shadow of alphas.The house and town looked lovely. Why does everyone talk about who "got out?" I guess elitist types view their hometowns as provincial and silly.Tina Fey was good. She was down-to-earth and didn't ham it up. Forget the device of having a kid sitting on a portable toilet. That's such a cheap way to get a laugh. Wouldn't the kid need toilet paper anyways? That whole story line cheapened the experience.I realize that we are living in a "progressive" age, but I don't know if audiences want to see same-sex kissing, etc. I guess it will become more and more accepted. If you want to imply that same sex people are together, you could just show them gazing into each other's eyes. I guess the whole movement is about making it identical to the straight life. So showing actual gay bed scenes will be next, if it's not already happening.With this many characters and only so much time, it's hard to establish back stories. I think they did a reasonably decent job of that. Also, as others have said, they walked that fine line between slapstick and drama well.

Ugesh Prasad this is my first comment on IMDb.. I've seen tons of movie from IMDb suggestions but never tried for writing up my views on anything.. this movie made my day really.. i was in little stress and need some relaxation from outside world.. and i found this movie.. it really healed me so much.. iam into this family and after watching the whole movie, i felt like iam also leaving this family by saying goodbyes.. they were like real siblings all the time.. it wasn't a movie, its kind of reality and had great sense of humor.. director is really brilliant.. we can see so many movies like this but this movie is really different from other movies... i guarantee you that you will b coming out from this movie with lot of emotions and with smiles <3 i really liked Jason bateman acting especially and her sister in this movie.. they had a great bond :)

jimbo-53-186511 This Is Where I Leave You is a film that seems to be very 'busy' all the time but at the same time is also a film that never really goes anywhere and does very little that's actually interesting.Essentially, we have a bunch of estranged siblings who had little contact with each other prior to their father's death and it is their father's death that brings them together. At the behest of their father the family are forced to spend a week together taking part in a form of Jewish mourning known as Shiva whereby the family are forbidden from leaving the area or taking public transport (amongst other things). This sets out the framework for the film, but that's all it really does - the siblings are at each other's throats at the start and are still the same at the end with very little in the way of reflection or insight offered in between. The characterisations are sketchy and flat here making many of the characters seem more like caricatures rather than human beings.Another problem here is that very little of what is on offer here feels realistic or believable. The Altman family are dysfunctional, but this concept is taken to a ridiculous extreme here and makes it look as if we're watching some sort of parody of a bad soap opera or a bad sitcom. Even if you're prepared to overlook the over-the-top antics of the Altman family then it's almost impossible to get around how unlikeable and annoying many members of the family are - it's safe to say that they are a hard bunch to tolerate over a 100 minute period.Other major problems relate to the unfocused nature of the story; it seemed to just keep flitting around all the over the place without really settling on one main story. It never seems to settle into any kind of rhythm and ironically it actually achieves very little by trying to do too much. Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper gives many of the characters nothing interesting to say or do making the film feel both dull and boring. I also felt that too much time was spent on irritating characters and not enough time was spent on more interesting characters (such as Timothy Olyphant's character). Director Shawn Levy shoots the film in the style of a soap opera and gives the film a very tedious episodic feel.Whilst many of the characters got on my nerves here there were a few exceptions; Jane Fonda was a lot of fun and her dirty talk about their father was both gag-inducing and pretty damn funny. Bateman is the most likable member of the Altman family and probably the most believable (and one of the few characters who didn't annoy me).Sadly, there are only a couple of moments in this film that are either amusing or tolerable and for the most part this is a loud, irritating, and generally unbearable affair from start to finish.