(Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)The Hollywood comedy, "This Is Where I Leave You," starring Jason Bateman and Tina Fey, is making its debut in theaters on Sept. 19. Documenting the dysfunctional family of a man who lost it all, the film — based on the novel by Jonathan Tropper — follows a Jewish family, the Altmans, who come together after a father’s death for a period of mourning. Along the way, they’ll probably find love interests and a new sense of respect and pride for their truly God-awful family.
First, let's talk production: Tropper wrote the screenplay adaption to his book by the same name.
“I look at movies as a very different animal than books, so it was really not hard for me to take apart my own book and find the movie inside of it,” he said in a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Preserving much of the book’s content in the film adaption, Tropper worked alongside Shawn Levy, who directed various comedy movies such as "The Internship" and "Night at the Museum." A few other big names are connected to the production of "This Is Where I Leave You," including Paula Weinstein (who produced "The Fabulous Baker Boys") and musical producer Michael Giacchino (who has a trail of movie awards behind him for his work in "Up" and "Star Trek").
It shows, too. Despite the overbearing blue in the first few shots of the trailer (blue clothes, blue walls, blue faces), Levy produces a no-frills and effects-lacking film that just works for a homebody film about middle-aged people who are kind of lame.
As for the actors, big names are probably the only thing that are going to give this movie its success. Bateman, who is no stranger to serious flops that nonetheless always continue to gain revenue (think "Horrible Bosses" and "The Switch"), found yet another entertaining movie to pass his time. Jane Fonda plays his mother, who looks (and acts) almost exactly like his co-star Jessica Walter from the cult favorite "Arrested Development." Fey is the loving sister who, besides Bateman, is the only rational person in the family, and the other two main actors don’t really matter. If they did, they’d have lines.
One of the lines in the trailer was, "Anything can happen. Anything happens all the time." Why was this a prominent line? Are they trying to convey something we don't already understand? While two grown adults were laying down in an empty ice-skating rink as feel-good music played in the background, I think we already know where this movie is going.
You’re not going to see me as the first person in line on Sept. 19 ordering a $12 ticket for this movie. I might stream it on a shady movie site during finals week while I’m procrastinating, though.
To be honest, Bateman is lucky he was the star of "Arrested Development" and therefore has some respectable history in his filmography — otherwise I wouldn’t watch it at all.
Reach the reporter at kvedanta@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @keerthivedantam
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