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Away We Go: An exercise in self-righteous, progressive banality
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Humble and earthy; Focus Features
Away We Go is a Sam Mendes filler project. A quick enterprise in-between his ‘important’ works. At least that’s what it feels like, from first frame to its sickly fairy-tale-like ending. It’s a film that thinks it’s saying something important, feels as though it has a message to say through its cardboard cutout characters, right down to Burt’s beaten-down old Volvo. But it’s actually quite empty, soulless.
Longtime couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Veronica (Maya Rudolph) are having a baby. After learning Burt’s father and mother are flying the coup so to speak, they embark on a road trip across America to find a new home for themselves and their unborn sprog. Conventional and formulaic in its setup, but with a twist -- there is no twist.
Along the way, the couple’s friends and family duly turn up as rickety stereotypes. Maggie Gyllenhaal is the worst offender as a pseudo new-age hippie cum feminist who just loves to sprout new-age platitudes, such as banning strollers because you should ‘never push your child away from you’, and naturally appears on-screen with a child firmly attached to each breast. Allison Janney is the one bright spot along this cavalcade of guest stars, but then we had already seen most of her best lines in the trailer.
Each new party, supposed friends but none of which have anything in common with our Holy Couple, do their best to make Burt and Veronica look very good indeed. They do a good job. The film sets off from the start to paint the couple in an idealist light, and never once do we feel their relationship is anything but rock solid, and nor do we question if they will find that perfect briar patch -- it’s more of a matter of how long can 90 minutes drag.
It's a long road to the all-too apparent conclusion: the million dollar manse, and a perfect sunrise cresting across their realized hopes and dreams.
Rating: ** / *****
Away We Go is playing at the E Street Cinema (555 11th Street NW).
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