This is Where I Leave You (15)

Directed by Shawn Levy
Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver, Jane Fonda, Connie Britton, Rose Byrne, Timothy Olyphant, Kathryn Hahn

What a great cast of (mostly) TV actors in what is an occasionally witty but uninspiring family drama.
Jason Bateman is our eyes after the death of his father reunites his madcap family. Over-sharing (and over-acting) Jane Fonda, dull big brother Corey Stoll (wasted), sister Tina Fey (given virtually nothing to do) and wacky younger brother Adam Driver who brings his older therapist girlfriend Connie Britton along. Add in Rose Byrne, Tim Olyphant and Dax Shepherd and this is a top notch cast ... yet the film rarely rises above a predictable set of shenanigans and surprise surprise, we see everything through the eyes of the blokes!
Films today are almost always told with a male gaze ( my last three film visits, Gone Girl, The Judge, this film - all very much from a male perspective.) Tina Fey and Connie Britton are national treasures but get virtually nothing to do! A criminal waste! Still, pretty much every character is a cliché or a cartoon apart from Bateman. Guess it is hard to serve them all when you have a cast this large. Still a real waste, so many great people involved for what was only a mildly entertaining film. 5/10

October 2014