If the film had been a bit longer, you could've gone on to Paul and why he wanted to keep the store all to himself. When they bring it up early into the film and in the end when Paul decides to give Phillip a job. The stuff with Paul being way too possessive of his sporting goods store is literally touched on twice in the movie. So I get that, but I think the film could've gone on a little while longer to better develop its varying subplots. That's the reason why you don't see many films over 3 hours long play in any mainstream theater.

Films, on the other hand, are a very limited medium because you have to take into consideration how many times your film can be played per day in any given theater. I'm sure editors would like it to be shorter, but there's simply no limit on the length of it.

This is an invalid argument, because a book can be as long as the author wants it to be. And you don't have to tell me, of COURSE I know that the book is better. The moment Phillip and Judd share just before leaves at the end is one of the more legitimately sweet moments in a film that tries so hard to be full of them. Some of it works, like Phillip's moments of wisdom with his siblings even if he's just a glorified man-child. The film's attempts to draw you in emotionally don't always work, no matter how hard the cast tries. The whole thing is seeing this dysfunctional family realizing that they're better as a whole than they are apart and, while an admirable goal, it just ends up feeling empty and shallow.

None of them ring true.įor a film with such a talented cast, and this is a pretty damn good cast let me tell you, it's disappointing to see that the story and thematic elements simply did not come around them in a way that's satisfactory. A lot of stereotypes, the couple who are desperate to conceive, the screw up younger brother the cheating girlfriend with the cartoonish radio dj. Some of the cast are good, mostly Rose Byrne and Jason Bateman, but it's very dull viewing. Oh, and some middle aged tedious drug use There's a mother with a boob job, which is meant to be funny (it's not), and a kid walking around the house pooing in a potty all the time (revolting, and I have no idea what that's about or why we need to see it). They are not even in the house the whole 7 days, they seem to go out on and off, so.? (Are they meant to be? Admittedly I don't know a lot about the Jewish religion). Just a silly plot device to bring them together for the story. I thought I was being harsh turning it off the first time - but, no, after watching most with a little bit of fast forwarding to save my sanity, I still think it's crap.ĭull family stuck in a house together after the death of their father, sitting shiva, though no one is really religious.

This is where i leave you author