Away We Go
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Away We Go
Plot
When slacker thirtysomething couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) discover that his parents are moving overseas, the duo -- who expect their first child in a few months -- set off on a cross-country tour to figure out where they should lay down some roots in Sam Mendes' poignant comedy Away We Go. They visit a number of different cities, and meet with a different friend or family member's family at each stop. Their hosts include a set of emotionally detached parents (Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan), a pair of overprotective new-age parents (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton), and old college pals (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey), who have adopted a number of kids. Novelist Dave Eggers wrote the script with Vendela Vida. ~ Perry Seibert, RoviReview
Dave Eggers became a literary superstar with his Pulitzer Prize-nominated memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a bittersweet story detailing the ups and downs of raising his younger brother after their parents died. With his wife, Eggers co-wrote the script for Away We Go, and, like his most successful book, the movie delivers a powerful emotional experience, all while pulling at your heartstrings -- and making you laugh -- in a very low-key style.The movie stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as Burt and Verona, an unmarried but deeply committed couple expecting their first child. When Burt's parents -- who they were relying on for help with the baby -- decide to move overseas, the expectant parents realize with some relief that they can now live wherever they want. So they decide to travel the country, visiting family and friends in different cities, in order to find a place that satisfies both their practical needs and their bohemian spirits.
Despite the premise, this movie isn't a travelogue. Sure, our protagonists visit Tuscan, Montreal, and Phoenix, but director Sam Mendes and company are more interested in exploring emotional landscapes than physical ones. With each stop on their trip, our heroes see how their hosts -- models of hilariously bad parenting -- grapple with the overwhelming responsibilities of family life. These uproarious visits leave the expectant couple with a clearer understanding of how they don't want to raise their child.
But even when Burt and Verona finally discover worthy parenting role models, they learn it won't be all smiles and jokes -- a lesson driven home when they go to see old friends in Montreal who have adopted a bunch of kids. Tom and Munch (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey) have built a happy, functional, and loving family environment, but when the four adults head out for a night of dinner and dancing, Burt and Verona learn how much pain sits just under the surface of their friends' seeming contentment. Mendes unveils the depth of that pain in a heartbreaking scene where the foursome ends up at a sort-of pseudo-karaoke bar where people get up on-stage and dance to the song of their choice. As Tom tells Burt a devastating story about Munch's inability to conceive, she performs a slow solo dance set exquisitely (by music supervisor Randall Poster) to the Velvet Underground's haunting, little-known "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." If you were in that bar and had no idea who this woman was, you might find her swaying movements kind of alluring, but we know it's an expression of sadness. The entire Montreal sequence certainly benefits from some incredibly moving writing and acting, but it's the cinematic poetry -- the combination of words and images and music -- that delivers an emotional wallop. It's the first time you realize how deeply the film gets under your skin.
Like Juno or Little Miss Sunshine, Away We Go is a small film, the kind of gem that's easy to crush with hype or overpraise. But, the fact is that few movies deal with feelings this profound with as much restraint as Mendes and his crew display here. Everything about the movie -- from Ellen Kuras' beautiful, understated cinematography to the subtle, engrossing lead performances by Krasinski and Rudolph -- is designed to sneak up on you emotionally, leaving you deeply touched, even though you'll never see it coming. And that's a good thing: it makes the film get better and better as it goes along, and continue improving the more you think about it. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Cast
- John Krasinski - Burt
- Maya Rudolph - Verona
- Jeff Daniels - Jerry
- Maggie Gyllenhaal - LN
- Allison Janney - Lily
- Catherine O'Hara - Gloria
Credit
Debra Zane - Casting, Ellen Lewis - Casting, John Dunn - Costume Designer, Sam Mendes - Director, Sarah Flack - Editor, Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda - Executive Producer, Pippa Harris - Executive Producer, Alexi Murdoch - Composer (Music Score), Randall Poster - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jess Gonchor - Production Designer, Ellen Kuras - Cinematographer, Edward Saxon - Producer, Peter Saraf - Producer, Marc Turtletaub - Producer, Dave Eggers - Screenwriter, Vendela Vida - Screenwriter| Away Goes Prudence (1920 Film), Away From Her (2006 Film) | |
| Away With Words (1998 Film), Awaydays (2008 Film) |
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Away We Go
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Away We Go
| Away We Go | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Sam Mendes |
| Written by | Dave Eggers Vendela Vida |
| Starring | John Krasinski Maya Rudolph Jeff Daniels Carmen Ejogo Jim Gaffigan Maggie Gyllenhaal Josh Hamilton Allison Janney Melanie Lynskey Chris Messina Catherine O'Hara Paul Schneider |
| Music by | Alexi Murdoch |
| Cinematography | Ellen Kuras |
| Editing by | Sarah Flack |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17 million[1] |
| Box office | $14,899,417[1] |
Away We Go is a 2009 comedy-drama directed by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes and written by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film stars John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Paul Schneider, Carmen Ejogo, Chris Messina, Melanie Lynskey, Josh Hamilton, Jim Gaffigan, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
It had a limited theater release in the United States starting June 5, 2009. It opened the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 29, 2009.
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Contents
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Plot
Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) and Burt Farlander (John Krasinski) are in their early thirties and struggling to meet daily needs and build fulfilling lives as an anatomy artist and a salesman of insurance futures, respectively. When they learn they will soon become parents, they are confronted with the challenge of how - and where - to raise a child and build a happy family.
Six months into Verona's pregnancy, she and Burt visit their only family in the area, Burt's parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), only to find that they have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium, for two years a month before the baby is due to be born. Frustrated at Burt's parents' selfishness and ill-thinking, he and Verona see this as an opportunity to find somewhere else to raise their family.
They first visit Phoenix, Arizona, meeting up with Verona's old boss, Lily (Allison Janney), her husband, Lowell (Jim Gaffigan), and their two children. Burt in particular is disturbed by Lily and Lowell's crass and mean-spirited behavior toward one another and their children.
Burt and Verona next visit Verona's sister, Grace (Carmen Ejogo), in Tucson. At Verona's request, Burt tries to persuade Grace to stay with her boring boyfriend. When Burt takes a call and displays his trademark humor, Grace tells Verona that she is lucky to have him and Verona agrees. While shopping, Grace tries to get Verona to talk about their deceased parents.
On their way to Wisconsin, they are told they cannot fly by airline employees who believe Verona is in her eighth month. The couple insists that she is only six months in but ultimately take a train. In Madison, Wisconsin, the couple visits Burt's childhood friend and pseudo-cousin, "LN" (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a college professor with inherited money and radical views about parenting. Burt and Verona bring a stroller as a gift, greatly angering LN as she and her husband Roderick (Josh Hamilton) are a "continuum home." When Roderick's condescension and LN's backhanded compliments to Verona get to be too much for Burt, he tells them they are horrible people and he and Verona leave but not before letting their kid take a ride in the stroller, which he enjoys.
Burt and Verona then visit old college friends in Montreal, Tom (Chris Messina) and his wife, Munch Garnett (Melanie Lynskey), and their diverse family of adopted children. Verona and Burt are happy to have found a loving family and a nice town and decide to move to Montreal. After dinner they wind up at a bar during "amateur dance night" in which Munch is an active participant. During Munch's performance, Tom confesses to Burt that Munch has recently suffered her fifth miscarriage and that they seem unable to have biological children. Verona has also picked up clues over the night and shares a knowing glance with Burt as Munch and Tom embrace.
In the morning, Burt receives an emergency call from his brother, Courtney (Paul Schneider), in Miami, whose wife has left him. Burt and Verona fly to Miami, where Courtney worries about his young daughter and the potential effects of a divorce on her. Burt tries to comfort Courtney while Verona spends time with his daughter. Burt and Verona spend the night outside on a trampoline, promising to love each other and their daughter and have a happy home.
The next day, Verona tells Burt a story about her childhood and her parents. Moved by her memory, they decide to settle in Verona's old family home. Realizing it is the place for them, they sit together happily, overlooking the water.
Cast
- John Krasinski as Burt Farlander
- Maya Rudolph as Verona De Tessant
- Carmen Ejogo as Grace De Tessant
- Jeff Daniels as Jerry Farlander
- Catherine O'Hara as Gloria Farlander
- Allison Janney as Lily
- Jim Gaffigan as Lowell
- Maggie Gyllenhaal as LN
- Josh Hamilton as Roderick
- Melanie Lynskey as Munch Garnett
- Chris Messina as Tom Garnett
- Paul Schneider as Courtney Farlander
Critical reviews
The film has a 'fresh' rating of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes,[3] and received positive reviews by several top critics including Roger Ebert, David Denby (The New Yorker), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Christy Lemire (AP), Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly), Stephen Whitty (Newark Star-Ledger), and Peter Travers (Rolling Stone). Praise went to the performances by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph and their surprising range, along with the solid supporting roles throughout the movie. Critics also noted that the project was a refreshing departure from past Mendes feature films, being a more "low-key" project than the more brooding and darker films that Mendes has been known for. The film has also received a considerable number of negative reviews: The New York Times describes the two main characters as self-righteous people "aware of their special status as uniquely sensitive, caring, smart and cool beings on a planet full of cretins and failures".[4] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 58 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.[5]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Away We Go was released on June 2, 2009, and primarily features songs from Scottish singer/songwriter, Alexi Murdoch.
(All songs by Alexi Murdoch except where noted)
- "All My Days" (4:57)
- "Orange Sky" (6:18)
- "Blue Mind" (5:45)
- "Song For You" (4:38)
- "Breathe" (4:18)
- "Towards The Sun" (4:40)
- "Meet Me in the Morning" by Bob Dylan (4:21)
- "What Is Life" by George Harrison (4:24)
- "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers (3:30)
- "Wait" (5:59)
- "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" by The Velvet Underground (7:28)
- "The Ragged Sea" (3:19)
- "Crinan Wood" (5:45)
"All My Days" was featured in the film's trailer.
References
- ^ a b "Away We Go (2009) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=awaywego.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- ^ Jaafar, Ali (2009-04-14). "Sam Mendes film to open Edinburgh". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1118002399&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- ^ Away We Go at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ A. O. Scott (2009-06-05). "Movie Review - Away We Go - Practicing Virtue, and Proud of It". Movies.nytimes.com. http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/movies/05away.html. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- ^ "Away We Go (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/away-we-go. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
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