Movie Review: Away We Go (2009, Directed by Sam Mendes)

I must confess that I enjoyed Away we Go, director Sam Mendes’ latest take on American family life, much more than I probably should have. The film is practically crying out for some intelligent and articulate critic to catalogue its many faults. Let’s just say that the movie’s ending is one of the most contrived and underwhelming I have seen recently on the screen. The film’s two TV star leads, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph have a thing or two (or three) to learn about film acting. The film is populated by secondary characters so under-developed and “quirky” with a capital “Q” that they would have been better suited in a Warner Brothers cartoon short.

OK … enough with the negatives (read A.O. Scott’s New York Times review if you want a scathing critique). Focus on the positives …

Krasinsky and Rudolph play a thirtyish couple who still haven’t “discovered” themselves. A baby is on the way and they don’t want to raise the child into a life of quiet confusion. So, they take off on an emotional journey of sorts, visiting different cities to determine where they should “settle” before the child is born. They’re seeking not so much a stimulating environment in which to exist, but rather people with whom they can share their parenting responsibilities. Thus, they look up “friends” from their past who may be able to help shed some light on what it means to be a caring parent.

The result, as you might anticipate, is that there are no easy answers (at least until the film’s misguided ending in which the protagonists literally stare into the camera and explain the lessons they have learned to the strains of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”). Somehow, though, the couple finds an authentic sense of peace in their multi-city journey through the inevitabilities of adulthood. They also learn quite a bit about each other (never a bad idea for a successful relationship).

I suppose the reason I enjoyed this film is simply that it made me laugh quite a bit. There’s something touching about Krasinky and Rudolph’s relationship and the moments when they are onscreen alone (away from the so-quirky-you-want-to-vomit characters they meet along the way) are at times fresh and insightful. Therefore, I have to at least give the movie a mild recommendation. It’s at least a nice quieter anecdote for the loud and explosive summer movie season. It’s just too bad that this cute film is so offensive to thoughtful filmgoers on so many levels. Oh well … I guess I’ll just do what this film’s lead couple would do … shrug my shoulders and move on.