Away We Go

I feel that the film makes a great connection between love and the experience of watching a movie. The end of this film is unbelievably right, given the nature of human experience and its relationship to the ideals that we construct in our heads. This movie captures the essence of both love and art together. We are bound to both love and art by a promise that we are pretty sure will be broken from time to time, just like the promises that the two people in the movie make to each other. But as human beings, we so much want the promise to come true that we will make it again and again. Whenever I watch a movie, I renew my own type of promise, one that I know will be broken, or at least will never live up to my own expectations. The characters in this movie go through the process of being broken by love (mostly through a sort of family and place Odyssey) in order to realize that the promises we make to each other can only be broken if we want them to be. We can love each other until we stop believing, and we can bring ourselves to watch a love story that keeps that same promise to the viewer. Sam Mendes has made the only romantic comedy he could ever make as a director: one that respects the viewer as well as the characters.

Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), an unmarried but devoted-to-each-other couple, are expecting a baby girl in three months. They moved near Burt's parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) because they wanted to give their child loving relatives in close proximity. Now, however, Burt's mom and dad announce that they are fulfilling a lifelong dream of "moving to Belgium", where they will be for the next two years. Huh. It does not appear that they are thinking of the coming granddaughter, only of themselves. This throws Burt and Verona into a frenzy of activity, for they want to select another locale to call home, near friends or relatives, and there isn't much time. Over the course of the next few weeks, the young couple travel to Arizona, Wisconsin, Montreal, and Florida in search of a new place to put down roots. Along the way, the pregnant twosome meet up with a bizarre friend (Allison Janney), an "adopted cousin" (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and other pals and relations. Will they find the perfect place to raise their daughter? After viewing this winning movie, no one can ever say that Sam Mendes does not have a softer side, which, to be honest, was fairly absent in his works such as American Beauty or Revolutionary Road. In fact, although Mendes is still wonderful at showing the idiosyncrasies and flaws in the lives of average Americans, this film's sweetness is its core asset. The cast is great, with Krasinski and Rudolph near perfect as the loving couple, while Janney, Daniels, O'Hara, and all of the lesser known cast members do a great job as well. Gyllenhaal deserves special mention, for she looks sensational and is a scream as the "new age" type mother. Naturally, it is quite beautiful to go from one splendid venue to the next and the costumes are lovely as well, especially Rudolph's maternity wardrobe. As for the script, it is stylish, imaginative, and very funny. If you love exceptional movies that more closely resemble coq au vin than meatloaf in the world of films, here is one definitely for you to savor. .

Director Sam Mendes last movie showed a couple deteriorating right in front of our eyes in "Revolutionary Road", and in a way he makes up for that depressing slog with "Away We Go". The couple here are upstarts, two people with a baby on the way who for the first time find themselves wondering about where they fit in the world and what they'll be like as parents. They're hopeful, but you can see the fear plastered on their face. First time screenwriters (and husband and wife) Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida waste no time in making them two identifiable people, and in the way they survey life's odd, complicated, and wonderful little moments, "Go" never fails at being a funny, thoughtful and heartwarming little gem that you'll fall in love with.

John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) play Burt and Verona, a mid-thirties boyfriend-girlfriend (Verona has a marriage issue) who get the shock of their lives when Verona gets pregnant. Not only that but any roots they have in their little Connecticut town are about to be uprooted because Burt's parents (a funny Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) are moving to Belgium a month before the baby is born. Having no reason to stay where they are, they pack up and take a road trip, stopping anywhere they know they might find a familiar face. Phoenix, Tucson, Madison, Montreal, and Miami are all marked for a trial period as the two try to figure out who and what they would like to raise their family around.

It's an odd blend of dealing with life's what-ifs and meeting a variety of broad characters. Allison Janney is the funniest of the broad, playing Verona's former boss Lily, an abrasive alcoholic who enjoys point-blank degrading her children and her crazy, paranoid husband, nicely played by Jim Gaffigan. Maggie Gyllenhaal also shows up later on as Burt's zen-like cousin who takes family closeness to a whole new level, i.e creepy. Mendes balances scenes like these perfectly with the richly written script. A scene between Verona and her sister (Carmen Ejogo) where the ushering in of new life forces them to confront the death of their parents, and another where Burt's brother (Paul Schneider), whose wife has just abandoned him and their young daughter, encourages Burt to think about the strength of his own bond with Verona have a rare power that speaks to the importance of family. There is a point where the interspersing of comedy and drama starts to get old but luckily a third act of genuine lessons and happy mediums lead to some of the movies best scenes.

And these are star-making turns from Krasinski and Rudolph. He has a doofy charm that gets a couple good laughs but he also makes Burt a loveably doting and comforting boyfriend there for Verona no matter what. And Rudolph is a big surprise here as she turns in a performance of maturity, vulnerability, and depth. This type of performance is a long way from SNL. They are, for the most part, the straight-men to the quirky characters and are called upon to spend most of the movie's run-time just talking and they gel so well with each other that you really don't even mind. Ellen Kuras' cinematography (rolling hills, sunrises, planes moving across glass window panes) and Alexi Murdoch's songs only increase the pleasure in this funny and effective indie rom-com.

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I am a fan of good comedies and independent smaller movies that are not about action and flashy special effects (which I also enjoy) but about looking closely at the characters, exploring the lives and desires of the ordinary people, and finding kindness, love, and gentle humor in every day situations. I like to follow the sympathetic characters on the journey of self-discovery and in search for the perfect place for them to live - just like the couple in Sam Mendes' comedy "Away We Go" 2009). Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) are 30-something educated, independent, intelligent, and what is quite unusual in the modern movies, truly loving each other unmarried couple who have been together for years and expecting their first child. The movie takes them on the road trip all around America. They leave Denver after having found out that Burt's cheerful and self-absorbed parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) who live close by will be moving out of country to spend two years in Antwerp, Belgium and wont'be present at their grandchild's birth.

Burt and Verona will be visiting friends and relatives in Phoenix, Tucson, Madison, Montreal, and Miami trying to find the perfect place to raise their daughter and to be with the soul-mates. Sounds like a perfect independent comedy and fun, and I was ready to love it. After I finished watching, I see that it was supposed to be funny and touching, personal and realistic, subtle and offbeat, and it sure was at times but it did not completely succeed for me. I think it tried too hard. I found some of the characters not realistic and funny but obnoxious over the top cardboard figures, and some jokes felt awkward. The film looks nice - Sam Mendes has a good eye for American beauty and he brings it it in every film he has made, and Away We Go is not en exception.

Two main characters, expecting parents Burt and Verona as played by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are believable and likable even if not always interesting. There is a story behind Verona's constant refusal to get married even though Burt keeps insisting and she is in love with him and sees him as her soul-mate. I assume it has to do with the death of her parents and the memories of the true happiness and closeness she and her younger sister had with them. Even if there is more than decade since they are gone, she still copes with their absence from her life. I read that Dave Eggers, the writer of the script, was 21 and living in Lake Forest, Illinois when he lost both his parents to cancer five weeks apart, leaving Eggers to raise his 8-year-old brother, Christopher. I think that he wrote the script that caught Mendes's attention coming to terms with his own past and his loss.

The best, the most moving scenes of the film are these where Verona opens up and recalls the scene of pure happiness from her childhood. Another memorable scene for me was the ending of the film. Some can see it as melodramatic but I think it was an appropriate and fitting end to the journey in search for Home. Away we Go is not a bad movie but as the rather short road movie, it is abrupt and inconsistent - some characters that we meet and their stories are quite interesting but we don't have time enough to learn about them because away we go to the next destination of Burt's and Verona's journey.

i just got back from a pre-screening of this in Dallas, and i must say i really enjoyed it. it seems like the whole audience enjoyed it as well, the theatre was often filled with laughter throughout this wonderful film.

i'm a fan of Sam Mendes' work, and his work excelled here in the realm of comedy. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph shared great chemistry as a couple expecting their first child and trying to decide where to settle down and raise their family. it's a bit of a coming-of- age story about people who should have already come-of-age, as we travel across the country along with them meeting quirky parents, friends, and old schoolmates.

it's not all laughs, though. there are plenty of serious and introspective moments and my hat is off to Ms. Rudolph, generally known for her skills in comedy, for adding fine dramatic moments to her character. in the end, this movie doesn't offer any solutions to life's quirks, but it looks at them and even celebrates them.

it's not Mendes' best film, but it's a very enjoyable film with a great cast and lots of laughs, and should appeal to a pretty wide audience. it's a breath of fresh air from all of the Hollywood flash and crap that will be slopped across theater screens this summer. go see it!