This is Where I Leave You

Director Shawn Levy has a strong script here (by Jonathan Tropper, from his novel) and a stronger cast. Tropper’s story is the reunion of the four adult Altman siblings at the funeral of their father. Their mother Hilary (Jane Fonda) insists that the family sit shiva for him. That means seven days. They’re not estranged, exactly, just not all that comfortable around each other for any length of time. Jason Bateman plays Judd, still reeling from catching his wife, Quinn (Abigail Spencer), in bed with his boss. He learns of his father’s death from his older sister Wendy (Tina Fey), the sibling who most often plays buffer and peacemaker among the others. There’s also Paul (Corey Stoll), whose wife, Alice (Kathryn Hahn), is desperate to have a baby, and the youngest sibling, who still hasn’t really grown up, Phillip (Adam Driver). There’s an honest bittersweetness to the film. The Altmans may send each other up the walls sometimes, but there’s an affectionate bond that can’t be denied. “You may be idiots,” Wendy tells her brothers, “but you’re my idiots.” Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R