REEL DEAL: “THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU” Arrives With US Critical Acclaim

Warner Bros. Pictures' endearing family dramedy “This is Where I Leave You” arrives exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on Dec. 17 with a flurry of rave reviews from highly regarded American critics.

Variety's resident film reviewer Scott Foundas writes, “`This Is Where I Leave You' is a sprawling ensemble dramedy that starts out like a full-tilt sitcom and gradually migrates to a place of genuine feeling. Repping a concerted effort by `Night at the Museum' and `Cheaper by the Dozen' helmer Shawn Levy to spread his wings beyond the gilded cage of family-friendly tentpoles, this alternately manic and mawkish adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s 2009 novel aims for `Terms of Endearment' territory and ends up somewhere closer to a Semitic `August: Osage County.' But a tremendous ensemble cast gives the pic a significant boost, especially when they’re allowed to act rather than merely act out.

REEL DEAL: “STAR WARS 7” Villain Adam Driver Shines In “THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

Before donning the villain's cloak in the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” promising actor Adam Driver (HBO's “Girls”) appears in Warner Bros. Pictures’ new heart-warming dramedy, “This is Where I Leave You” as Phillip, the youngest brother in an eccentric, dysfunction family.

When their father passes away, four grown siblings (Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver), bruised and banged up by their respective adult lives, are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Let the madness begin.

REEL DEAL: Jane Fonda An Over-Sharing Mother In “THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

The dysfunctional siblings (played by Jason Bateman and Tina Fey) in Warner Bros.' dramatic comedy “This is Where I Leave You” is presided over by their devoted but proudly unconventional mother, Hilary, played by legendary Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.

As complex and combustible as the kids’ bonds are with each other, they pale in comparison to their relationship with their mother, the simultaneously regal and earthy Hilary.

REEL DEAL: Charlie Day, Jason Sudekis Bring Comic Chaos To “HORRIBLE BOSSES 2”

As much as they function best as a team, or what Jason Bateman calls “this three-headed monster, a sort of collective idiot,” New Line Cinema's “Horrible Bosses 2” lets Nick, Dale and Kurt also shine as distinctly individual personalities.

Says producer Jay Stern, “That’s really the strength and the secret of this kind of ensemble. There are people watching around the world who might not identify with all of them but will see a bit of themselves in Dale, or maybe Nick, or Kurt, so audiences have multiple opportunities to get drawn into it.”

For example, the needle of Charlie Day’s character, Dale, only points in one direction or the other: total fear and denial, or total gung-ho commitment. Above all, Dale’s first impulse is to avoid anything that will get him in trouble with his wife, a tendency he displayed in the first round when she was just his fiancée and is now amplified because the stakes are so much higher on the home front.

REEL DEAL: Jason Bateman Stars In "HORRIBLE BOSSES 2", "THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU"

Golden Globe Award-winner Jason Bateman (TV's “Arrested Development,” “Hancock”) headlines two consecutive comedies from Warner Bros. Pictures: the laugh-out-loud “Horrible Bosses 2” and the inspiring “This is Where I Leave You.”

In “Horrible Bosses 2,” everyone's favorite working stiffs Nick (Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) rally with an original invention and another run at the American dream. But a slick investor (Christoph Waltz) soon pulls the rug out from under them. Outplayed and desperate, and with no legal recourse, the three would-be entrepreneurs hatch a misguided plan to kidnap the investor’s adult son (Chris Pine) and ransom him to regain control of their company.