Away We Go

Plot synopsis:
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. 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, the couple visit their only family in the area, Burt's parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), only to find that Gloria and Jerry have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium, a month before the baby is due. They also announce that they will be gone for two years and they have already rented the place out to another couple, despite Burt's and Verona's situation. Frustrated with Gloria and Jerry's selfishness and careless attitude, Burt and Verona decide this is an opportunity to find somewhere else to raise their family, since they are both employed in situations where they can work from home and live wherever they choose.
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, Arizona. 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.
They next visit Burt's childhood friend and pseudo-cousin in Madison, Wisconsin, "LN" (pronounced "ellen") (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 taking their son on a wild stroller ride through the house (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, Tom confesses to Burt that Munch has recently suffered her fifth miscarriage and that they seem unable to have biological children.
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 house and her parents (who were both killed when she was 23). 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.

Tags: realism, adult comedy, cute, psychedelic, humor, philosophical, romantic, entertaining, storytelling

Review:
John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph shared great chemistry as a couple expecting their first child and trying to decide where to settle down and raise their family.
in the end, this movie doesn't offer any solutions to life's quirks, but it looks at them and even celebrates them.it's not Mendes' best film, but it's a very enjoyable film with a great cast and lots of laughs, and should appeal to a pretty wide audience.
Definitely worth a Go. Director Sam Mendes last movie showed a couple deteriorating right in front of our eyes in "Revolutionary Road", and in a way he makes up for that depressing slog with "Away We Go".
First time screenwriters (and husband and wife) Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida waste no time in making them two identifiable people, and in the way they survey life's odd, complicated, and wonderful little moments, "Go" never fails at being a funny, thoughtful and heartwarming little gem that you'll fall in love with.John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) play Burt and Verona, a mid-thirties boyfriend-girlfriend (Verona has a marriage issue) who get the shock of their lives when Verona gets pregnant.
There is a point where the interspersing of comedy and drama starts to get old but luckily a third act of genuine lessons and happy mediums lead to some of the movies best scenes.And these are star-making turns from Krasinski and Rudolph.
Away We Go sends the two main characters into different locations, but all the people they meet are people they already know, or think they know.When Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) learns that she is pregnant, the question for her and her partner, Burt (John Krasinkski) is, Where do we live after the baby is born?
Just six months after introducing us to one of the most unlikable and miserable movie couples viewers had ever seen in "Revolutionary Road", director Sam Mendes takes us on a little detour from his usual style/genre and allows us to meet one of the most likable on-screen pairings in recent years with "Away We Go".TV's John Krasinski is the amiable goof-ball and insurance-futures' salesman Burt and SNL alum Maya Rudolph (in a quietly revelatory performance built on her gift of perfectly timed facial expressions) is his long-time girlfriend Verona who does illustrations for medical textbooks.
The tale of these two thirty-somethings trying to do the right thing not only for themselves but for their daughter-to-be is filled with humor and warmth that allows us to relate to both the chaos around the characters and their desire to shield their baby from it.Under Mendes surprisingly laid-back director's hand, the material and the performances rise above the clichés of the "she's having a baby!" sub-genre of dramedies while successfully interweaving elements of "discovering yourself on a road trip" indie flicks.
Episodic and sometimes meandering in nature, the film's acts range from laugh-out-loud hilarious (including a scene-stealing Allison Janney making a bid for worst mother of the year in grand comedic style) to laughably absurd (witness Maggie Gyllenhaal as a self-righteous alterna-mom with an unfounded hatred towards strollers) to unexpectedly poignant (in an unexpected side-trip to Miami to help Burt's brother through a crisis).
The script doesn't even come close to answering that question, supplying instead an improbable, unbelievable succession of obnoxious characters (with the exception of the sad, perfect pair in Canada) whose parenting (we are meant to believe) inspires our protagonists to begin the search for "home." The problems here are numerous, but the biggest problems are a script apparently adapted from a freshman short story effort, a terrible performance by John Krasinski (did no one notice he's doing a Seth Rogen imitation?), whose character is such a lamebrain he apparently sleeps in his eyeglasses, and many "unearned" moments papered over with hip alternative ballads.
Mendes is a very interesting director in that sense, because despite his being one of the most visually striking and prominent directors working today, with his last four films being among the most gorgeous-looking films in recent memory, his origins are on the stage, and that background is actually very prominent in this film.Plot-wise, this film tells a story that we have all seen before – the road trip movie.
The story establishes a series of supporting characters who are also expertly played by a very impressive supporting cast; Maggie Gyllenhaal and Allison Janney particularly stand out as friends of Krasinski and Rudolph, respectively, who provide very opposite views about life and long-term relationships.Ultimately, this is a fun, well-made, enjoyable, quirky little indie film; it's funny and charming and light-hearted while also delivering an interesting and thought-provoking parable about marriage, long-term relationships, life and the various approaches couples have to all those things.
They have a succession of rental cars and everywhere they go they are plied with liquor.If things could possibly go any more downhill that comes in Montreal, where Burt and Verona love the family they visit, who have six adopted children, till they go to amateur night at a bar that has pole dancing and the husband (Chris Messina) reveals that his wife (Melanie Lynskey) just had one of many miscarriages and that they are both miserable.Earlier in an airport a lady comes up with a boy she is obtrusively instructing, and then she asks him a question and he recites a little speech full of horrible menace -- something about trying to smother his sister.
This movie is about totally-in-love couple (Bert and Verona) who are about to have a baby who decide where they want to raise their child by traveling to different places where they know people.
Away we go is sort of a road movie that tells the story of a young couple expecting their first child, they decide to travel all across the U.S and to Montreal, Canada to decide which place is better for their child to live in.
The cast was really good, Maya Rudolph, usually known from its comedic roles, with this one she proves she can also do drama and in a very good way, John Krasinski also delivers a very good performance and the supporting roles of Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Catherine O'Hara deliver convincing acting jobs and helps the movie with his evolution.
I am a fan of good comedies and independent smaller movies that are not about action and flashy special effects (which I also enjoy) but about looking closely at the characters, exploring the lives and desires of the ordinary people, and finding kindness, love, and gentle humor in every day situations.
I like to follow the sympathetic characters on the journey of self-discovery and in search for the perfect place for them to live - just like the couple in Sam Mendes' comedy "Away We Go" 2009).
Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) are 30-something educated, independent, intelligent, and what is quite unusual in the modern movies, truly loving each other unmarried couple who have been together for years and expecting their first child.
Two main characters, expecting parents Burt and Verona as played by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are believable and likable even if not always interesting.
This is a movie that is an adult comedy meaning it's not a rated R frat-house comedy but a comedy for grown ups, a serious comedy but don't think it's not hilarious.It's hilarious, well written, very well directed by Sam Mendes drawing out performances by Maya Rudolph & John Krasinski that I didn't think was possible & also an impressive supporting cast with notable performances by Maggie Gyllenhall (who is always fun to watch & interesting), Alison Janney, Catherine O Hara & that crazy chick from "Two and a Half Men".One of the best movies I've seen in 2009 (so far and the best comedy by far!).Could easily go 10/10 but I'm very stingy with my voting, LOL..
but picture Bill Murray being a young couple and the movie being good.Director Sam Mendes, being renowned for his distaste for the monotony of suburbia as shown in American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, has crafted a beautifully shot experience of different slices of life across North America.
Cinematographer Ellen Kuras, frames the movie beautifully, showing something lovable about each of the locations, and taking the time to show the little quirky things that one might find when she stops and smells the roses.But what ultimately carries the movie is the genuine love between Miss Rudolph's Verona De Tessant and John Krasinski's Burt Farlander, a homely couple about to have a baby.
from Burt's parents, played by Catherine O'Hara and a mature Jeff Daniels (whom you cannot recognize from Dumb and Dumber), to an affected Allison Janney (whom you will not recognize from Juno), to a whimsical Maggie Gyllenhaal, to very touching roles played by Carmen Ejogo, Chris Messina, and Melanie Lynskey.It seems like every year (2006's Little Miss Sunshine, 2007's Juno, 2008's The Wackness and The Wrestler), a small-budget, whimsical/slice-of-life movie comes along that is something that people say, "I wish Hollywood would make more of these." So far, Away We Go is that movie for 2009.
Away We Go is a fun little independent movie that proves that John Krasinski can do more than The Office and Maya Rudolph can do more than SNL - they both give great performances, as does the supporting cast.
I wasn't expecting much out of this one but to my surprise it had all the ingredients for a decent romantic comedy,the movie is actually pretty good.I say it has the same attire but put on in a different way.The film is about a couple who decide to move someplace they consider to be perfect for them and their unborn baby,so they go on a trip to find out the very same.The film is a romantic comedy dealing some serious issues of life.The film is quite promising if one decides to watch a romantic comedy and spend some time laughing and feeling good.All Romantic comedies are usually similar and this one s no exception but its still worth 90minutes of your time.Definitely a promising film of 2009..
Let's not forget that this is a comedy, a broad and whimsical one, with huge laughs in many of its scenes, which are merely bookended by sweet, sentimental ones.Played with ready companionability by The Office's John Krasinski and the unique Maya Rudolph, who definitely stands out despite being a relative newbie surrounded by quite a familiar cast, Burt and Verona live not far from his parents, in an underheated, shabby home with a cardboard-covered window.
He takes on a cross country (as well as part of Canada) journey with Burt (John Krasinski, who plays Jim on "The Office") and Verona (Maya Rudolph, of "Saturday Night Live" fame), a couple who are three months away from having their first child.When Burt's parents decide to move to Europe, Burt and Verona agree to move elsewhere so their baby can grow up somewhere with family and friends.
It's a pretty novel approach to the romcom, more like a road movie than anything else, and yet it delves deeply into questions of love, marriage and relationships.In case you didn't know, Maya Rudolph's character is pregnant throughout the film and the themes focus heavily on children: how people raise them, how people FAIL at raising them, and how people try admirably in unlucky circumstances.
So in many senses "Away We Go" is like a newborn -- there's just a crisp, organic feeling to it.Burt (John Krasinski of "The Office") and Verona (former SNL regular Maya Rudolph) are an unmarried couple expecting a baby girl who after learning Burt's parents will be moving away from them before the baby's born decide they have an opportunity to pick somewhere completely new to start their family.
Krasinski takes the sweetness of his "Office" character Jim and turns it into a completely goofy but serious guy in Burt and Rudolph, always considered a comedienne, brings a surprising amount of warmth and range to Verona."Away We Go" is an honest, sweet, likable film that provides so many different examples of characters and situations that bring unique perspective and insight about parenting, family and when it's all said and done, what home really is.
Such is the power Sam Mendes' new film "Away We Go" has; it's a simple film, one might even go as far as mistaking it for an independent flick, but it has that spark of ingenuity and that quality to touch viewers profoundly and satisfyingly.It's about a couple, Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph), who are expecting a baby.
They don't seem to be, at first, like remarkable people, but within a few minutes after the film has started, we find ourselves embracing their love for each other, their spirit and their personalities, until we're convinced they just might be the most endearing, special couple we've ever seen.They want to live in a positive environment for their baby, and since Verona's parents are dead, and they want the baby to have relatives (other than themselves, of course), they live close to Burt's parents.
It was a quiet movie, slow moving and such a small piece of the characters' lives that at first I wasn't sure what story they were trying to tell, but it doesn't, nor should it, end with a baby being born, it ends with them coming a little bit closer to understanding where their place in the world is and what they want for themselves and their children.The acting was fantastic from the two leads.
It manages to make you laugh, cry, and feel completely satisfied.Away We Go is about Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), a quirky, 30-something couple who are expecting a child.
Suddenly faced with the reality of having no family in the area and no reason to be there, he and his partner Verona head out on the road to visit various family and friends around the US and Canada to try and decide where best to settle to have their baby.With films like Revolutionary Road and Jarhead under his belt it was a real surprise to see English director Mendes suddenly making what appeared to be an indie-spirited comedy with two TV comedians in the lead roles.
The story is rather simple: a young pregnant but not married couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) live in Chicago, too near parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) and under the influence of Verona's wildly mad boss (Allison Janney), so when the idea of finding a place to raise a perfect family arises they are off and running to Montreal (where they visit the very bizarre couple Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton, steeped in the far out reaches of 'being natural' in everything), progressing on to Miami where they encounter the apparently happy family (but painfully bruised parents Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey), and on to Tucson - searching for just the right place to be a family.
Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), play a couple expecting their first child.
The acclaimed film American Beauty opened many doors to director Sam Mendes, but it could also be argued that it created unreal expectations to many people about his future work.And even though his following films were well received, none of them ended up being as memorable as American Beauty.Away We Go, his most recent film, is not the exception; however, I liked it very much, and I think it deserved much more recognition than it got because of its intelligent screenplay, excellent performances and valid message.In summary, I had a fascinating time of laughs and reflection about the subjects of family dysfunction which obviously interest to Mendes (besides of American Beauty, his film Revolutionary Road also rounded on those subjects) with Away We Go.Away We Go has that distinct "taste" of independent cinema, with sensible characters facing eccentric characters who represent different aspects of society with humor and ingenuity.And the best thing of all is that, at the difference of other similar films, all that elements feel very naturally integrated to the screenplay in here.What is more, we have Mendes' solid direction and the perfect performances from the two main actors, who bring a lot of honesty and realism to their characters.John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are more famous for their work on TV, but their developments in Away We Go are so good that they feel as veterans from the big screen.I truly hope that, in sight of their work in this movie, they get more offers from casting directors in Hollywood.In supporting roles, we have also great performances from Allison Janney, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels and specially Melanie Lynskey in a brief and almost mute interpretation which evokes a deep level of emotion and intensity.I wish she had more screen-time, but her work and the one from the rest of the supporting actors are reduced to brief cameos in which different social contemporary clichés are very well parodied.The only members of the cast who did not convince me were Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton, because they feel too forced on their roles.But, in spite of that, Away We Go is an excellent film which brings a very interesting satire which perfectly endorses the central message: the rules and expectations from the society do not necessarily drive to happiness; the compatibility between the people and their tolerance to the eccentricities from their peers are more important, at the same time they make their relationships richer and they teach to appreciate the person from him/herself, and not for his/her function on the world.In summary, that is another fascinating level to this brilliant film, which I enthusiastically recommend if you wanna watch a high quality film..
Movie Critique - Away We Go. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are two very dynamic actors who seem to have the perfect chemistry for this style of film.
Here is a low budget, dramedy film with an top director and excellent cast and quite a funny little film.Away We Go focuses on Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), a couple in their thirties who are about to have their first baby.