As a novel, this book by Jonathan Tropper is just one of the 500-a-year “Jewish family dramedy” novelsĀ but as a movieĀ it is a little different than the glut of sequels and remakes currently taking up screen real estate. And that uniqueness—-especially after such a stale summer—-might make the film feel more original and less generic than it really is.
What Works: There’s really only one character on screen that’s not one dimensional and that’s Jason Bateman’s leading brother. Bateman himself does excellent work here, taking what could have been a slightly drippy character and giving him unexpected doses of sly dog wit and fun. [I shudder at the thought of what Zach Braff would have done with this same role.] It’s just one more reminder that Bateman can shine in almost any role. He’s so good, that it left me with an overall better impression of the movie.
What Doesn’t: Most of the character’s onscreen are occupying “types.” There’s the screw-up youngest brother (Adam Driver, whose slightly tiresome, goofy-but-intense/silly-but-mannered hybrid persona really needs tweaking), the older woman who’s supporting him (a better, less conservative film would have tried to make this more of a legitimate relationship than such an obvious oedipal fling), the shrill sister who’s hilariously “ball busting” (Tina Fey, adopting a grating accent and exaggerated mannerisms that make this possibly her worst performance), and, of course, the jerk-ish oldest brother who stayed behind to run the family business.
All of it feels like things we’ve seen in other movies, and you wish they tried for a bit more specificity.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Take the beats of a typical “guy goes back to his home” or “family gets together for a funeral” movie (this one is really both) and avoided them a lot more than this thing does. Still, there are a lot worse ways to spend two hours at the movies this month.