Away We Go
This film would be fantastic had it not fallen victim to its own second half. The only things that keep this film from being anything less than three stars are the laughs it delivers and Allison Janney.
Away We Go follows the many misadventures of Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) as they search for the perfect place to live and raise their soon-to-be-born daughter. This film was executed creatively and, at times, is unquestionably hilarious. At its heart; Away We Go is a love story. After Burt’s parents announce they are moving away, the couple decides to follow suit and so the misadventures begin.
As the couple travels, they meet with old friends and distant family members, all of which have some sort of issue or lunacy. Their journey begins on a very high point (for the film) as Burt and Verona travel to Phoenix and meet up with a couple of their old college friends (played brilliantly by Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan). Every time Allison Janney opened her mouth I almost died laughing. Gaffigan sported his typical shtick but it works well to his advantage here. Sadly, however, it’s all downhill from there.
The film has plenty of comedy throughout but as it moves along, the jokes (at least the funny ones) become less and less and the pacing takes a dive. The film really lost me at Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character; the hippie/free spirited mother of three. There was a great ending to her part but I think what really detracted me was her performance. I just never really bought into her character nor was it funny enough to keep my interest.
After that, the film starts to take a more dramatic turn as it shows the more emotional and inner parts of Burt and Verona’s relationship. Kransinski is a great talent and perfect for his part. He is utterly believable and a joy to watch on screen. When it comes to the more dramatic stuff, Maya Rudolph retains the believability but never blows you away with her talent. I guess her character wasn’t meant, necessarily, to overwhelm you with emotion and I suppose in that respect she was excellent. There is one scene, in the end, where she delivers a monologue about her past, however, that I thought gave her a great opportunity to show her stuff but fell a little short.
Director Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, American Beauty) put together what I think is a perfectly middle-of-the-road dramedy. It’s a love story at its core and a comedy in its shell.
February 6th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Saw this last night, and again, I think the writer captured my thoughts on the film perfectly. The second half of this film didn't really correspond with the first, and I hated MG's character – I am no fan of her anyway…except for Secretary, fine piece of work there. But, the comedy takes a back seat too much at the tail end of this film, they should have kept making us laugh all the way to the end. The first scenes are pretty good though.