Review of This Is Where I Leave You (2014) by Thequietgamer — 16 Jan 2015

A "dramedy" with a lot more drama than comedy. The cast is talented all around. It's just a shame most of them go underused. When they do all come together each of their characters personal problems can lead to some emotional and humorous scenarios.

It's one of those "life is complicated" type of movies. One that takes a look at dysfunctional family as a way of showing audiences that there are other people out there who don't have their crap together. It certainly makes the characters relatable as it always does, but the familiar messages kind of get lost in the heavy-handedness of it all.

The problem is that there just aren't enough laughs present here. It doesn't ruin the film but some more humor among the admittedly effective melodrama could have taken the film a long way. It's more believable this way, but it does hurt the movie for those going in for more laughs.

However as a whole it is a very solid film. One with some characters whose plights can be resonated with. It certainly not perfect, but overall it can still prove to be worth a watch. The strong cast does help with that.

My total score for the movie is a 6.5/10.