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'Away We Go' is a splendid journey
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Courtesy of IMP Awards
John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are supremely gifted actors and as a team, they’re utterly magnificent. No other on-screen couple in recent memory has been this engaging or authentic. These two could discuss different types of wallpaper for a number of hours and I’d still be at least mildly entertained.
Away We Go tells the story of Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) and Burt Farlander (John Krasinski), an unmarried couple expecting their first child. When Burt’s parents decide to relocate to Belgium, Verona and Burt choose to leave their modest home to settle elsewhere, beginning anew with a family of three.
As they embark on their journey across the states, the nonconformist pair encounters immensely different approaches to married life, which, as the story moves forward, grow progressively more earnest in tone, causing the loving couple to question their own intentions and levels of commitment to one another as well as to their unborn child. Allison Janney and Maggie Gyllenhaal are standouts as Verona’s old boss and Burt‘s cousin, respectively. Is there anything these two versatile actresses aren’t capable of? If I had to make one major complaint about the film, it’d be that these ladies aren’t given enough screen time. Gyllenhaal and Janney play two married woman positioned at complete opposite ends of the marriage spectrum. Through these characters and their peculiar traits, Mendes undauntedly evaluates and displays just how significantly the definition of marriage and commitment have changed over the past fifty years. The nuclear family no longer exists and perhaps never truly did, as it was and still remains largely an archetypal family situation rather than a realistic, easily obtainable one. Yet, none of this could be achieved or stylistically conveyed without the brilliance of a confident filmmaker.
Much of Away We Go’s success is credited to Sam Mendes’ astute direction. Each shot is so finely composed and balanced like the work of a consummate poet determined to organize every word and verse into an amalgamation of artistic wonder. Mendes’ direction is old-fashioned, but pleasantly reminiscent of a largely bygone era in American cinema when film directing truly was an exigent art form. From a technical standpoint, Away We Go is nearly flawless and is certainly textbook worthy for any film school student in need of proper, expert instruction, and that includes myself.
I love Away We Go. I’m in love with Away We Go. Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski are astoundingly excellent as the perfect, imperfect couple in pursuit of a suitable home in which to establish their family. Mendes offers one of the most mature, honest portraits of what it’s like to be a monogamous couple in the 21st century.
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