One would assume with a cast consisting of Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, Jason Bateman and Adam Driver (now of Star Wars fame), This is Where I Leave You would be an engaging movie with powerhouse performances, but sadly this is not the case. The film goes for the dramedy angle, and at some parts kind of works out, but not really.

Tina Fey, who is an incredible comedic actress, doesn't really fit in well with the darker and dramatic tones of the movie (but she does the comedic bits great). Bateman, as has been the case with his roles for the past decade or so, seems to always play the 'straight man' who's always pretty self-indulgent to the point that his screen time becomes tedious and rather irritating. You just stop caring about his character, really.

The movie revolves around a family coming together to stay a week after the father dies, and how they learn to kind of cope with each other. One would think hilarity with such a cast would ensue, right? Wrong. The movie dragged on in many places, some of the subplots (it's really hard to care about Rose Byrne's character at all, which is a shame since she's a great actress usually), and you just wanted the movie to be over.

Honestly, a lesson should be learned with films like these - if it comes with a huge stellar cast, it almost always is a fight to make sure they all get decent screentime. Which is hard, to be honest. These are actors who usually lead and shine in their roles usually, but now have to take a backseat... to Jason Bateman, unfortunately. Nothing wrong with Bateman, but as said before, he keeps playing that same character over and over again (see Arrested Development, and the many films he's done since the turn of the millennium).

If you're a big fan of any of the cast, go ahead and see it. If you think it'll be a great movie because of the stellar cast attached, you are dead wrong. Wait for the home/VOD release.