Away We Go“There are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.”
- Anton Ego, Ratatouille

Here is the pitch for Away We Go that arrived in my inbox, and which put me to sleep before the second paragraph:

 

Longtime (and now thirtysomething) couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) are going to have a baby. The pregnancy progresses smoothly, but six months in, the pair is put off and put out by the news from Burt’s parents Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara), that the eccentric elder Farlanders are moving away from Colorado – thereby eliminating the expectant couple’s main reason for living there.

So, where, and among whom of those closest to them, might Burt and Verona best put down roots to raise their impending bundle of joy? The couple embarks on an ambitious itinerary to visit friends and family, and to evaluate cities, eventually realizing that they must define home on their own terms.

If that sounds riveting, skip my review and see the movie – the less you know walking in, the better.

If, like me, you’d rather see a film about watching paint dry (an idea my friends and I once came up with a surprisingly credible pitch for), continue reading as I put on my critic’s hat and attempt to dissuade you from skipping the movie.

Away We Go was directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road), and while it doesn’t sound like a Mendes production – neither lead has a lousy job or is chronically depressed – it contains the same world-weary eye for exact, offbeat details, not to mention it was written by McSweeney’s cofounder Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida, which alone would have made me excited had I known in advance.

What the pitch doesn’t tell you is that unlike every other couple in every other “romance” the studios have cranked out over the years, Krasinski and Rudolph never fight. They don’t argue. That isn’t to say they never disagree about anything, but it never turns into shouting. They’re not drunk on each other either, making out every chance they get and having wild, passionate sex every night. Their relationship is as credible as Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet’s in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a movie which hammered home just how fantastic (literally) most Hollywood romances are. Away We Go shows the reality, and it’s a lot more pleasant-looking than other movies would have you think.

Krasinski and Rudolph do indeed embark on a road trip, visiting a range of  quirky characters such as her former boss (Alison Janney) in Tuscon, Arizona; his childhood friend (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in Minnesota; and their old university friends in Montreal. Some, such as Rudolph’s sister (Carmen Ejogo) are fully rounded; others (especially Gyllenhaal’s neo-hippie, who still breastfeeds her seven-year-old and claims to have sex in front of her children) are two-dimensional caricatures, but still embody traits you’ve probably seen.

The ending, of course, is disappointing: how could it not be? There is no destination in North America that could live up to Krasinski and Rudolph’s expectations, and the place where they settle seems as good as any. They certainly stay for the right reasons, and while they may not know what’s coming next, during the credits I was left with a feeling I’ve rarely experienced watching a Hollywood romance: that whatever happens, they were going to be okay.

andPOP Rating - 4 Stars






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