Oct 5, 2010
This Is Where I Leave You is about death, divorce and dysfunction and it is hilarious. Shorty after Judd's wife leaves him for his boss, Judd’s father dies and his mother announces that his father’s last wish was for the family to observe shiva, a seven day mourning period during which friends and family visit the home of the bereaved. Seven days is a long time to be cooped up in your childhood home. Judd and his three grown siblings revert to their familial roles and no one is safe from rehashing the humiliations and pain of adolescence. Jonathan Tropper reminds me a lot of author Pete Dexter. Both authors have the ability to weave humour together with that which is most poignant.