No compensation was received for this post. I attended a press conference which facilitated the writing of this post.
“It would be a terrible mistake to go through life thinking that people are the sum total of what you see.”
Jonathan Tropper, This is Where I Leave You
In the opening scene of Warner Bros. film, This is Where I Leave You, Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) comes home to celebrate his wife’s birthday, only to find her already celebrating with her husband’s boss. In one moment, the life Judd thought he knew is shattered. As he blows out the candles on the birthday cake they will never share together, the scene goes to black as the film’s title pans across the screen. This quiet, profound moment of discovery is a favorite of author/screenwriter Jonathan Tropper because it sets the tone for the story that follows.
Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to sit down with Tropper to discuss the inspiration for his novel, his unique experience adapting his own work, and what themes he hopes will resonate with audiences. Not having read Tropper’s inspiration for the film, I still found myself easily engaged in this seemingly dysfunctional family. Almost immediately following Judd’s discovery of his wife’s infidelity, he learns that his father has died. Life and death always seem to bring families together, and for the Altmans, it is their father’s last dying wish that unites them in a 7-day Shiva under the same roof. With all of Hilary Judd’s (Jane Fonda) children united, every loss, struggle, and disappointment is made transparent as they struggle to reconnect amidst life’s chaotic, heartbreaking, and unexpected redemptive moments.
The idea for This is Where I Leave You came as Tropper was writing about the story’s main protagonist Judd. “I wanted to write about [Judd’s] downward spiral and [how] he loses everything and discovers that his whole life was not the perfect life he’d thought it was.” One hundred and twenty pages into writing the story, Tropper recalls feeling like at the time, it was not a good book. Aspiring to something greater, Tropper felt like his main protagonist needed another humiliation…so he decided that he needed to go home to see his parents. Tropper found his story while he was writing a chapter where Judd goes home for his father’s 70th birthday party. In the book, we meet the Foxman’s (Altman’s in the film) and “once I started writing about his siblings and his mother, I suddenly realized where the book was.”
Five years later, after many many drafts and a lot of heartbreak, Tropper’s book-turned-film will debut in theaters Friday, September 19th, 2014. For an author, the opportunity to adapt your own work might seem like a dream-come-true. The reality is in a perfect world, Tropper would just as soon write an original script. Adapting your own work is akin to “doing surgery on your own child. You don’t really want to do it, but on the other hand, you don’t necessarily want to sit there and watch someone else do it.”
Having seen the film four times, Tropper was convincingly content with the finished cinematic work. Tropper admitted that his aspiration to make a film that touched the spot where comedy and drama meet is difficult in all respects. But those moments of raw emotion and poignancy intermingled with witty, relatable, at-times hysterical comedy brought authenticity to the story. But more than just 103 minutes of comedic entertainment, This Is Where I Leave You is about family…a family much like yours and mine that might argue and quibble and is often quite strange, but one that always manages to show up for each other. In the midst of their contention, Tropper strived to show the real connection and love present between these siblings. In the midst of infidelity, infertility, loss, and death, “there is a certain value to coming home, and even if they [your family] drive you crazy, you can be your truest self there (Tropper).”
This is Where I Leave You features a phenomenal cast including Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Dax Shepard and Jane Fonda and is in theaters now.
Images: Warner Bros.
- Discover Luxury at Sonesta Irvine: Your Ideal Staycation - August 8, 2024
- CHOC Walk Returns to the Disneyland Resort – Special Events and Ways to Support - June 28, 2023
- Beastly Ball Returns to the Los Angeles Zoo - May 8, 2023
Leave a Reply