It’s finally here. The much anticipated (at least by me) film adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s best selling book “This is Where I Leave You” is here and it’s underwhelming.
Related Post: Top Five Most Anticipated Films Based on Books
The book (check out our review here) tells the story of the Foxman family who must sit shiva following the death of their father. The four children are portrayed by Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, and Adam Driver. Their mother is played by Jane Fonda. Throughout the book, the siblings deal with their own issues in the place where all problems begin: home.
Let me just say that I love this book. It’s so masterfully written and its darkly comic tone is so refreshing and painfully funny. However, that is my main problem with this trailer. It portrays the film too much as a lighter comedy with a moral family tale tacked on, when in reality it’s a story about growth and decay in the wake of broken dreams and missed opportunities. My worry is that the movie is too focused on the comedy aspect of that. The trailer focused a lot on one-liners, which is not what makes the book so hilarious. What makes the book hilarious is it all happens in such a dark fashion. There’s no room for fluff. Tropper is so unflinching and it looks like when it came to penning the movie’s script he flinched.
Although from the short scenes that I saw, I can tell that almost every actor was cast perfectly with the exception of Dax Shepard as Judd’s (Jason Bateman) boss, who slept with his wife to begin the book, and Adam Driver as the youngest Foxman child, Phillip.
I’m still excited for this. It’s an adaptation that I saw coming from a mile away. The book is so perfectly set up for a wonderful dramedy about the inevitable crisis we all face, but I can’t help but dread it. I know, most of the time film adaptations are disappointing, but this had so much going for it. Hopefully there is something more there.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.