Away We Go

Written by: Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Jeff Gaffigan, Maggie Gylenhaal, Jeff Daniels, Catherine O’Hara, Chris Messina

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) are a early 30’s couple who have been sort of just making it through life. Burt sells insurance to insurance companies over the phone (in a hilarious voice, to mask his easy-goingness) and Verona is an artist who paints pictures for medical books (I think, they weren’t 100% clear on it). They’ve been together for a long time, but Verona refuses to marry Burt. Ever. Suddenly, the two discover they are pregnant.

Six months later we see a large bellied Verona and Burt making their way to Burt’s parents house. Gloria (O’Hara) and Jerry (Daniels) are super excited to be sole grandparents (Verona’s parents passed away while the couple was in college), and can’t wait to welcome the little girl into their lives, after having two sons of their own. While at dinner Gloria and Jerry share their own big news…they plan to move to Belgium. Soon. So soon the baby won’t even be born yet.

Totally rocked by the news Burt and Verona realize that it will just be them and the baby out alone in the world. They have no family nearby and don’t have that many friends. Verona figures since they have no ties to the city, they can pick up and leave and start fresh with their family once the baby arrives. Pooling whatever little money that have, the two take a trek to different cities, visiting different friends and relatives, to see who they’d want to live near.

In Phoenix they visit Lily (Janney), Verona’s old boss and her husband Lowell (Gaffigan), who have two kids. Verona’s sister (Carmen Ejogo) in Tuscon. Burt’s cousin LN (Gyllenhaal) and her family in Wisconsin, Burt’s brother and his daughter in Florida, and college friends in Montreal who have adopted kids.

Along the way they learn a lot about what kind of life they want for their family and more about what kind of people they are. It’s a darkly funny coming of age story, and yes you can come of age at 33.

This is light-years more upbeat than the last Sam Mendes film that I saw (Revolutionary Road). And although I’ve read tons of negative comments about it being a “pretentious indie flick” I absolutely loved it. It’s very humorous but you still feel really close to the characters. Like they are your own friends. You want things to work out for them. Also a great change of pace to see a film where the couple actually likes being together. And I’m sure everyone who has even thought about kids sees families that you in no way want to be like, much like Burt and Verona experience on their journey.

I think John Krasinski will always be “Jim from The Office” to a lot of people, but that sort of works for him in this movie. Even with the beard, scruffy hair, and glasses, there is a little bit of Jim in Burt. I was very pleased with Maya Rudolph’s Verona. She was funny, but not silly like she tends to be on SNL. You really could feel Verona’s loss when she talked about her parents passing away with her sister. The two had great chemistry as a couple.

All of the supporting cast was great as well. I am totally sure Maggie Gylenhaal had a blast playing LN, the quirky, alternative lifestyle mom who hates strollers because “why would she want to push her babies away”. I also really liked Chris Messina’s character, Tom, their old college friend. He loves his wife and their adopted kids, but the couple has gone through a lot and he delivers this great metaphor about what it takes to build a family.

And the writers did a great job of NOT ignoring that she is in fact black. Verona’s character responds to it several times throughout the movie. Don’t let the poster art fool you, this is ain’t a Juno ripoff.

Overall I give this movie an A. I laughed. I got teary. I got teary from laughing. If you love the trailer you will definetly love the movie. And if you just felt so-so about the trailer, you should still give the movie a chance.