Flash Review, “This is Where I Leave You,” at theaters, romantic comedy. Four grown kids come home to mom after dad’s death, to hang for a week, in keeping with old Jewish custom. It’s cute, entertaining, not great. The main character, Judd, goes through the crisis of finding his wife in bed with his boss, thus trashing his tidy, happy life. They’ve been trying to have a baby and she finally conceives and it’s his, but he’s not exactly crazy about her now. He falls in love with Penny, who is heartful and pretty. Jane Fonda is the mom. She turns gay at 75. She’s had a lot of work done on her and it shows. The sibs all love and occasionally hate each other and help each other out. Tina Fey is one of the sibs and doesn’t get much of a chance to be funny. Judd is a sane, well-meaning guy who just wants love and a good life and finally succeeds. We don’t understand why his wife is cheating on him. He has a too-tame life and that’s gone now. He’s never been to Maine, though it’s just up the road. He’s too afraid. But in the end, he steals the Porsche of his brother Philip and does it. Philip is a playboy and heartbreaker. His latest lover is there and she is tortured and, being a psychologist, articulates it. The wife of another sib tries to seduce Judd, but he says no. There’s a lot of drinking and screwing and fighting and it’s entertaining. It’s like TV, kinda slapsticky with endless gags. Ya don’t get much empathy going with any of the characters, though they all do have their poignant moments and become human and have problems we identify with. It’s touching that, in the end Judd and Penny relax and let love in and you can see they will have a good life, even if he’s about to become a dad with someone else. Life is messy and complex and he proclaims he wants it that way. Not tidy and simple. He’s telling us that our lives are messy and complex and that’s the new normal and is ok.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:05:00 +0000
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