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Review: 'This Is Where I Leave You' needs to leave out a bit

 
The reassembled Altman siblings are, from left, Phillip (Adam Driver), Paul (Corey Stoll), Wendy (Tina Fey) and Judd (Jason Bateman).
The reassembled Altman siblings are, from left, Phillip (Adam Driver), Paul (Corey Stoll), Wendy (Tina Fey) and Judd (Jason Bateman).
Published Sept. 18, 2014

Sooner or later, dysfunctional family reunions in movies wind up with relatives wrestling in the yard, living room, wherever the cliche takes them. Whether viewers groan, grin or something in between says a lot about how well the movie works up to that point.

This Is Where I Leave You is no exception. Just when you most expect it, middle-aged brothers start tussling over bones that families always dig up at the wrong time. This wrong time was a funeral, the father's as usual in ensemble dramedies. "Widow" is the go-to role in Hollywood for women over 70.

The one hired this time is Jane Fonda, 76, and while she doesn't wrestle, she's a reason why when the grappling started my reaction to this movie was something in between. This Is Where I Leave You is packed with familiar regrets and lost-time makeups but these actors make every recycled moment count for something.

Fonda plays Hillary Altman, a successful author beckoning her grown children home for the funeral and shiva, a Jewish custom of grieving that involves long sits in low chairs. Never mind that none of the Altmans are religious; Mom wants it that way, and Fonda has a nice way of deflecting backtalk.

Hillary's bestselling book Cradle and All was based on raising her children, and they never lived it down. Judd (Jason Bateman) is a radio show producer who caught his wife in bed with the host (Dax Shepard). Wendy (Tina Fey) is married with children and a neglectful husband. Paul (Corey Stoll) stayed in town and helped dad run the family business.

Then there's Phillip, the obligatory black sheep given fresh shading by Adam Driver. Phillip brought along Tracy Sullivan (Connie Britton), an older woman at once thrilled and clear-eyed about dating a younger cad. Phillip is the flint spark to everyone's emotional fuse, and Driver in a needling pleasure to follow.

But wait, there's more. Paul's wife, Alice (Kathryn Hahn), has fertility issues. The hunky guy with brain damage across the street (Timothy Olyphant) has issues. The classmate (Rose Byrne) who had a crush on Judd and knows he's home has issues. Even Rabbi Grodner (Ben Schwartz) has issues but that's Phillip's fault.

Not only are problems spelled out but each must be resolved in less than 100 minutes, which is where screenwriter Jonathan Tropper crops his novel in the wrong direction. I'd take less Alice and spare Olyphant his discomfort, in exchange for more of Hillary's brass. Other viewers can pick their poison of extraneous material.

This Is Where I Leave You is directed by Night at the Museum helmer Shawn Levy, and the late mention speaks to the impression he leaves.

Contact Steve Persall at spersall@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8365. Follow @StevePersall.