Review: Away We Go (2009)

[Steve Rhodes]

AWAY WE GO
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

AWAY WE GO, by acclaimed director Sam Mendes, is his most different movie. 
All of his other pictures (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, JARHEAD, ROAD TO PERDITION 
and AMERICAN BEAUTY) are in-your-face, big films, full of very dramatic 
moments.  They have their funny bits, but their underlying tone is always 
dark and foreboding.  In a complete change of pace for Mendes, AWAY WE GO is 
a little movie, a sweet and quirky comedy that works -- but only if one 
doesn't overanalyze it and look for Mendes's traditional deep meanings.

But, as a comedy, it isn't one of those big laugh-out-loud types.  Instead, 
it's one full of witty lines that'll keep you smiling most of the time.  The 
secret to the film's modest but satisfying success is the cast.  With two 
likable leads, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as Burt Farlander and Verona 
De Tessant, and a terrific supporting cast, including a scene-stealing one 
by Maggie Gyllenhaal as LN, the movie is a real crowd-pleaser.

Structured mainly as a road trip, the film follows a very pregnant Verona, 
who is only six months along but appears ready to give birth at any moment, 
and her live-in boyfriend Burt.  The plot, which proves to be fairly 
unimportant, has them touring a few cities in the U.S. and Canada, visiting 
friends and relatives as they look for a place to settle down.

The script's best part comes when it has Verona and Burt, a mid-thirties 
couple, stopping to see LN at a college in Montreal.  As they walk into LN's 
office, they find her nursing her two boys simultaneously.  Since the oldest 
boy, around five or six, appears to be old enough that he might be inclined 
to invite his friends over for lunch, Verona and Burt are shocked by what 
they observe.  Regaining their composure, they accept LN's invitation for 
dinner.

LN, a pseudo-free spirit who acts like a refugee from a commune, has a whole 
list of bizarre child-raising dos and don'ts, with her breast-feeding of her 
kids and her friend's kids being at the top of the "do" list and the use of 
strollers being at the top of the "don't" list.  Having done child birthing 
twice, she brags that her pain means that "when I watch CNN, I can 
understand war."  Hands-down, the movie's funniest scene surrounds a 
stroller that Verona and Burt give LN.

Little things in the script provide delectable pleasures.  Burt makes his 
living by selling "insurance futures" to insurance companies.  He doesn't 
have an office and does his work strictly over his cell phone while using a 
fictitious name.  He explains that insurance companies need insurance too. 
And the dialog is particularly fine, with one my favorite lines being a 
warning that "a drought is coming, like a Biblical flood in reverse."

If you go looking for Mendes's next big movie, boy, oh boy, will you be 
disappointed, as many critics have been.  And if you go expecting a comedy 
filled with huge laughs or a drama chock full of big message moments, you'll 
similarly leave unsatisfied.  But, if you go into the theater wanting to be 
entertained, you will get what you came looking for.  You'll enjoy going 
along with Verona and Burt on their journey, and you'll leave with a smile 
on your face and a feeling that you're glad you got to know them.

AWAY WE GO runs 1:38.  It is rated R for "language and some sexual content" 
and would be acceptable for teenagers.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, June 19, 2009.  In 
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.  The movie was 
shown recently at the Camera Cinema Club (http://www.cameracinemas.com) of 
Campbell and San Jose.

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