Away We Go (Selenium Apocalypse Goes Small & Indie)

Away We Go
Starring John Krasinski & Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O’Hara & Jeff Daniels
Directed by Sam Mendes

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to check out some “smaller” movies to bring me back down to ground after all of the “larger” movies I had consumed. I made up a small hit list, and the first one I attended was Away We Go directed by the great Sam Mendes, whose past credits include American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road. If this man makes a film, I can pretty much guarantee that I will see it in the theatre. It’s so amazing Mendes has only directed five films and they all have been excellent. There just aren’t many directors that have that kind of track record. The man definitely has the eye to select well-written scripts and material. Away We Go for lack of a better term is his comedy. However, anyone that’s seen a Sam Mendes movie knows that it’s not going to be all laughs. I’ll get to that later.

There are those special “independent” films that come around every year that take movie audiences by storm through good word of mouth, such as Little Miss Sunshine or Juno. Away We Go is definitely in that vein, with extremely quirky characters spread throughout the film, but packed behind all of that is a ton of heart. Much credit must go to screenwriters Dave Eggers and Vendella Vida. Their script along with the direction really makes this movie shine.The basic plot of the movie is that Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) play an unmarried thirty-something couple who are expecting their first child. During a family dinner, Burt’s parents (Catherine O’Hara and Jeff Daniels) drop the bombshell that they are moving to Belgium for two years and will miss the birth of their grandchild. This motivates Burt and Verona to travel around the country to find their perfect place to settle and raise their child.

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The rest of the movie focuses on Burt and Verona’s trip to find a home. It is here that we meet all of the quirky friends from their past. Lily (Allison Janney) is the drunken, unhappy loudmouth who scares them away from Phoenix. In Madison, we meet Ellen or LN (Maggie Gyllenhaal) with her full-proof belief system on how children should be raised. This whole sequence made for some of the biggest laughs in the movie. You will never forget the three S’s: no sugar, no strollers and no separation. Obviously, Madison will not be their final resting place.

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When they make their way up to Montreal to meet up with some old friends from college, Mendes takes the film in the opposite direction. Tom and Munch (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey) seem on the outside to have the perfect happy life, but we quickly get an insight that this is not the case. Munch’s dance at the Gentlemen’s Club is a very effective scene. No words spoken, and it totally breaks your heart. Burt receives a call from his brother Courtney (Paul Schneider). He asks him to head down to Miami to help out because his wife has left him and their daughter.

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The viewer never finds out where in the U.S. this final stop is for Burt and Verona, but they go to the home where Verona grew up. It is here that they realize that this place represented nothing but love and that’s all they will ever need. What’s so great about Burt and Verona’s journey is that they seem so real and so normal. They second-guess themselves wondering if they are fucking up. However, they always validate each other. These final scenes actually brought tears to my eyes.

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The Great Mendes has struck again. I’d like to see more movies with characters like Burt and Verona. They seemed so real and authentic. I cannot express to you how blown away I was by Maya Rudolph’s performance. She is absolutely sensational in the film. Well, if you haven’t figured it out, I loved this movie. Sam Mendes is five for five. Well done, sir!