Taking aim at family dysfunction

JUST when he least expects it, life rears its ugly head and bites Judd Altman (Jason Bateman), the producer of a popular radio show in New York. He goes home early one day and walks in on his wife in bed with his star talk show host. Then his sister calls to tell him that their father has just died - and things go rapidly downhill from there.

This is Where I Leave You, directed by Shawn Levy, written by Jonathan Tropper and based on his book of the same name, is the latest in a long line of movies about family dysfunction. Appropriately enough, the film can't quite make up its mind whether to be funny or serious, so it takes a stab at being both - but not succeeding at either.

Emotionally battered, Judd returns to the family home upstate, where his siblings have gathered for their father's funeral. Their mother Hillary (Jane Fonda) informs them that his dying wish was for the family to spend the next week "sitting Shiva" - staying together and mourning his passing. Put another way, it's an extended group therapy session.