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DVD Review- Away We Go (2009)
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John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in Away We Go
Hollywood doesn't make enough movies about the trials and tribulations of a couple approaching the reality of becoming parents. Sure, there are plenty of films about the art of parenting (usually superficial comedies featuring wacky kids), but not that many focus only on the nine month waiting period that precedes birth. 2007 saw the release of the critically acclaimed comedy Juno which followed a young unwed high school-aged mother seeking the perfect adoptive parents. Hugh Grant starred in 1995's Nine Months, an abysmal affair that the less said about the better. In 1988, the recently deceased director John Hughes helmed the semi-autobiographical She's Having A Baby, one of his best movies but unfortunately one of his most disappointing at the box office, which charted a young couple's progress from marriage to the birth of their first child. The same year also saw the release of Molly Ringwald's For Keeps, which concerns an unmarried high school couple coping with an unexpected pregnancy (many probably don't remember it, for good reason, it's not that good). This year saw the release of Away We Go, directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road), and it's a sweet and quirky comedy that is much different than any other feature in the director's filmography.
Away We Go centers around Burt (John Krasinski; The Office, Leatherheads) and Verona (Maya Rudolph; Saturday Night Live, Idiocracy), an unmarried couple in their mid 30's who learn at the beginning of the film (in one of the funniest sex scenes in recent memory) that Verona is pregnant. The movie then flashes ahead six months later, with Verona looking extremely pregnant (something that is commented on one way or another by a majority of the cast). Burt has the earnest hope that he will succeed in being a most competent father to their unborn daughter, telling Verona, "I really want her to have an epic childhood." They go to have dinner with Burt's parents Gloria (the wildly funny Catherine O'Hara; A Mighty Wind, Beetlejuice) and Jerry (Jeff Daniels; Dumb and Dumber, The Purple Rose of Cairo). At dinner the young couple is shocked to learn that Gloria and Jerry are moving to Belgium one month before the baby is to be born. Burt and Verona realize that with Burt's parents gone that they really have nothing holding them to the area. So they decide to take a trip around the U.S. and Canada visiting various friends and family members to see if they can find a new home to raise their family.
So, away they go on an odyssey that takes them to Arizona, Wisconsin, Montreal, and Florida. On this adventure our couple meet a myriad of characters who make them consider and reconsider what they think they believe in regards to child rearing. In Phoenix they meet with Verona's boisterous former boss Lily (Allison Janney; The West Wing) and her miserable husband Lowell (comedian Jim Gaffigan). Lily makes many disparaging remarks directly to her sullen children and wonders aloud why they haven't made more friends in Phoenix. In Madison they stay with Burt's childhood friend Ellen (Maggie Gyllenhaal; The Dark Knight, Donnie Darko) and her non-working husband Roderick. Ellen is a free-spirited hippie type who believes in breastfeeding anywhere, thinks that strollers are the worst thing for children ("Why would I want to push my child away in a stroller?"), and allows her kids to sleep in her and Roderick's bed all the time...no matter what is, um, going on at the time. Other people they stay with include a couple who adopt as many children as possible to make up for their inability to conceive and Burt's brother who is a newly single parent dealing with his wife recently abandoning him and their daughter. Along the way Burt and Verona react to these various peculiar and eccentric personalities and their beliefs and finally realize where it is they should set up home.
The screenplay for Away We Go was written by the respected and acclaimed author Dave Eggers (a Pulitzer Prize finalist for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) and his wife Vendela Vida (author of And Now You Can Go). Eggers's unique style of writing is all over this movie (this reviewer has never read any of Vida's work), though overall it seems a bit watered down and streamlined. That's not unexpected, as Eggers's signature style can be sprawling and innovatively original, featuring numerous creative liberties such as breaking the fourth wall by speaking directly to the reader. While such methods work amazingly well on the printed page, they would not work in a movie such as Away We Go, so it's to the film's advantage that Eggers produced a more straightforward and traditional story.
This results in Away We Go being a really good movie, though not quite a great one. While the film has some more biting sarcasm in the portrayals of many of the characters that Burt and Verona contend with, at times (especially in its second half) it tends to get a little too sweet for its own good. Krasinski and Rudolph are competent in their roles as Burt and Verona, but one feels that there are moments where they could have invested more into their performances. Krasinski feels muted at times in his role, while Rudolph's character often comes off as too underdeveloped. Many of the supporting characters (especially Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Catherine O'Hara) make much larger impressions in significantly smaller roles. Regardless, Away We Go is worthy of recommendation to those who enjoy films about couples that aren't mired in sappiness. The only disappointment for this reviewer is that based on the talent writing, directing, and acting in Away We Go, more was expected.
DVD features include a commentary with Sam Mendes, Dave Eggers, and Vendela Vida; a featurette entitled "The Making of Away We Go;" and, another featurette called "Green Filmmaking." Also available on Blu-Ray.
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