Away We Go Movie Review

By Amanda Pendolino on June 19th, 2009

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Sam Mendes’ first film since the provocative Revolutionary Road, Away We Go is another relationship study – and this time, it’s a lot funnier and a lot less depressing. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph give charming, understated performances as Burt and Verona, an early 30s couple who jet around the country in search of a place to raise their baby-on-the-way. As they make their way to and from Phoenix, Tuscon, Madison, Montreal and Miami (all gorgeously shot) – they begin to search not for a locale, but for insight on how to construct the perfect family.

Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara are funny as Burt’s kooky and selfish parents who announce their plans to move to Belgium a month before the baby’s birth, but like many of the supporting characters in the film, they come off as too quirky and weird to be believable. Allison Janney is fun as Verona’s drunk and giggly old boss Lily, but never quite seems like a real person. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton are the worst offenders, playing an inexplicably wealthy neo-hippie couple that practice a “family bed” (meaning they let their toddlers watch them have sex) and refuse to use strollers.

The exceptions come later in the movie, when Burt and Verona visit their old college friends Tom (the fantastic Chris Messina) and Munch (Melanie Lynskey). Though they seem happy with all their adopted children, they later reveal that their marriage isn’t as blissful as it appears. As we (finally) discover some characters with real depth, Burt and Verona discover that the perfect family may not exist.

The leads play off each other well, with Krasinksi’s earnest nerdiness a perfect compliment to Rudolph’s calm patience. The film is charming and emotional, though sometimes the humor is just too in love with itself. Alexi Murdoch’s crooning soundtrack is appropriate but perhaps overdone, the obligatory pretty indie music for a pretty indie movie.