Shawn Levy, director of the super-successful “Night at the Museum” series, cashed in some of his studio goodwill to make “This Is Where I Leave You,” a modestly budgeted comedy-drama, in which adults speak with one another and nothing blows up.
There were a number of things in Levy’s favor: He has a rep for bringing in films on budget, and they make money; Jonathan Tropper’s book was a best-seller; and the project was able to line up a killer cast.
“Tina (Fey) was the first person I cast,” Levy said earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The director worked with Fey on “Date Night” and said, even though everyone knows her as a huge comedy star, he “saw glimmers of soulfulness and vulnerability.”
Fey said she was drawn in by Levy, who came on to the movie after it sat in limbo for a few years, and because “I like human stories about human people who never turn into cars.”
She was drawn to her character of Wendy, she said, because she thought she was something new on screen.
“Her story hadn’t been seen before,” Fey said of her character’s relationship with the injured ex she left behind. “She lost the love of her life without really losing him.
“Also, this is a lady who doesn’t work,” the busy actress/writer/producer said. “I’ve played a lot of characters who are defined by their work — they work too much. But this is a lady who doesn’t, and that was interesting to me.”
Although she took issue with calling the film’s family dysfunctional — “that’s a pop-psychology buzzword,” she said — her co-star Jason Bateman chimed in, “There’s nothing funny or dramatic about a family that functions well.
“Families are great devices for films, but weddings have been played ad nauseam and then funerals got played out,” Bateman added.
Which brings us to the film’s version of shiva, the Jewish tradition of mourning the dead for seven days while visitors fill the mourner’s home with rugelach and corned beef.
Fey said selling the Jewish custom to the nation is “a marketing problem,” but, “I will say that when a loved one passes, even though shiva is a formalized version” of one religion, “it is what happens.
“Everyone comes from out of town, you all pile into the house, and everyone brings food and you are all together. You understand why ‘whoever’ invented shiva did, because everyone should be together sharing old stories of happier times and being nice to each other and taking turns crying. It’s a very important thing to do.”