‘Away We Go’ is a notable 180 for director Sam Mendes who usually specializes in high-production-value star-driven projects like ‘Road to Perdition’. Apparently feeling the need to make something on the cheap, this small episodic pic seems like a decidedly calculated look at the other side of the marriage coin that Mendes so heavily portrayed with ‘Revolutionary Road’.
‘Away We Go’ was released in theaters a mere six months after ‘Revolutionary Road’ which starred Mendes’ wife Kate Winslet so I’m guessing he needed a break from all the heavy lifting and decided for a low-key story of a perfectly normal, likeable couple on the search for the perfect place to raise their first child.
Of course, nothing can be that easy, as past family and friends, along with their respective geography, don’t quite hold up as well as they thought.
Not married despite Burt’s constant pleas, Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) are expecting their first child and have chosen rural Colorado to call home as of it’s proximity to Burt’s parents Jerry (Jeff Daniels) and Gloria (Catherine O’Hara).
At dinner, the eccentric parents break the news that their moving to Belgium for a few years despite that meaning they would miss their first grandchild’s birth. With no ties to Colorado other than the now relocating grandparents, Burt and Verona decide to visit various family and friends to decide who and where they want to live by. With both having freelance jobs, they plan an intricate travel itinerary with Phoenix, home of Verona’s old co-worker Lily, being the first on the list.
So begins the first of a few head-scratchers as it seems highly unlikely that the normal, nice Verona would ever be friends with the obnoxious on every level Lily (played with a nasty glee by Allison Janney) much less go out of her way to visit and consider moving by. With power-drinking Lily cruel to both her kids and husband, Burt and Verona high-tail it to Tucson for a quick visit with Verona’s pleasant sister Grace (Carmen Ejogo).
Inexplicably, despite no real problems in Tucson and an actually normal family member living close by, they continue their search visiting Burt’s old pal Ellen, or LN, (Maggie Gyllenhaal) an equally obnoxious Women Studies professor who doesn’t believe in strollers and, apparently, separate beds for the kids. Again, funny writing, but not the least bit plausible that Burt and Ellen were such good friends and yet Burt would have no idea how wacky she had become.
They find more success and realism in Montreal where old college pals are leading a seemingly blessed life with a happy house full of adopted kids yet just under the surface boils a deep unhappiness for the couple.
One of the more poignant scenes in the film end this Montreal segment though an emergency in Miami involving Burt’s brother calls them away where they eventually find a peaceful ending in a location that they should have thought of first.
A debut script for real-life married team Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida who up to this point focused in various forms of alt-literature (and co-wrote the upcoming ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ adap with Spike Jonze), the film started off a bit shaky, along the lines of a mediocre Sundance entry, but becomes progressively more poignant as it moves along if never quite becoming as effective as it wants to be.
One can’t blame the TV-vet cast as The Office’s John Krasinski and SNL’s Maya Rudolph make a believably, misguided match with a nice rapport that comes across as fully lived in.
Supporting players don’t fare as well mainly because they’re all painted as sort of cartoons with only Burt and Verona getting to play the normal cards. It overall makes for an okay watch but never really becomes as substantial as you feel it wants to be with a meandering, slightly condescending tone being the main culprit.
The 2.35:1 1080p encode is quite good based on the film’s rather limited budget with the various locales all getting a few standout shots. Colors are intentionally a bit washed out but detail is quite good. The DTS HD track is again fine for the material which is mostly dialogue driven.
The main feature here is an audio commentary from Sam Mendes and writers Eggers and Vida who make for a very entertaining listen. Comfortable with each other and easy-going, this is at times more engaging than the film itself.
The ‘Making Of’ consists of your usual BTS footage and interviews and is worth a watch for fans. A short featurette on ‘Green Filmmaking’ and BD-Live connectivity round the few extras out.
I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of ‘Away We Go’ despite good intentions by all involved. The cast was quite good and the direction was there but after it was all over, I gave it nary a second thought up to writing this review; never a good thing.
I think the film would have been more effectual had some of the supporting players not been drawn with such broad strokes. All that being said, it’s perhaps worth a watch for fans of the cast and Sam Mendes whom I hope returns to the type of big-budget melodrama that he really excels at.
Away We Go [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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