Review: Away We Go

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see Sam Mendes' new film, Away We Go, at the Ritz in Center City (easily my favorite movie theater around) and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Of course, I am a huge fan of movies that mix comedy and drama like Juno, High Fidelity, and Rushmore, and so this movie is no exception. I also think the film did a great job of making a truly laugh-out loud comedy with more heart than is fair to other movies.

The premise is interesting, but it's the characters that are the heart of the film. John Krasinski (aka Jim from The Office) and Maya Rudolph are superb. Liking their characters is key to the whole movie, and they deliverable one of the more lovable movie couples in a long time. I didn't sit there wanting to be Burt or be with Verona, as I often do watching these kinds of movies, rather, I totally bought them as a couple that should absolutely be together. And it's not that there's any sort of true-love/destiny thing going on here, they are just two people who completely love each other and care for each other deeply.

I had always been a fan of Krasinski, who always shines as The Office's everyman, but Maya Rudolph is an absolute gem in this. Now I feel like I'd watch something just because she's in it. However, not everyone agrees with me:

But Away We Go isn’t a gentle road movie amiably spoofing the strange ways of American families, but something darker, a nightmare journey into the twisted soul of American banality. Or something like that.
. . .
Away We Go is one of those movies, like Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt, that takes the boorishness of conventional Americans as a given and valorizes nonconformity for its own sake. While it contains moments of genuine sweetness and human comedy, the overall effect is of an attack upon those of us who work for a living and haven’t the means to indulge our romantic imagination.

I actually don't even see this as a valid criticism. If anything, Burt and Verona are the only sane characters in the film. Not only that, but all these people who are seen as "banal" by the critic above are really the outlandish type. 

Burt's parents (the hilariously paired Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) are insanely selfish, as after the young couple moves nearby for their child's sake, they decide to move to Antwerp for two years. And rather than just leave the house to the couple (who have a carboard window) they decide to rent it to someone they've never met. Then to Phoenix, where they meet Maya's former boss, now an alcoholic mom whom mocks her kids (Allison Janney) and her apocalyptically cynical husband (Jim Gaffigan). It's clear to me that these aren't supposed to represent typical Americans, as these wackjobs even admit they've "had trouble fitting into the social scene" in their new town. Both Burt and Maya and the population at-large are revolted by these sad people who have nothing better to do than go to the dog track and complain how terrible their marriage is. 

Then we meet Burt's "cousin" Ellen (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who now goes by "LN" a post-feminist uber-hippie who hates strollers ("Why would I want to PUSH by child away?" she shrieks) and shares a bed with her whole family. Due to her inheritance, her husband is basically a slacker. Truly these are not "conventional Americans," and the elitism here would certainly run both ways. These scenes are some of the funniest in the movie. 

And Burt and Verona certainly do not look down on their Montreal friends and their brood, nor do they judge Burt's brother harshly. Rather, what the couple sees on their trip is a collage of American families. Obviously some families are dysfunctional to the point of scary situations, while other families have other issues to deal with, be it the absence of a parent or an unorthodox lifestyle.

It's Tom Garrnett's (Chris Messina) soliloquy over pancakes that really drives home one of the core message of this movie. A family is what you make it. You can plant it wherever you like and it can take on any number of configurations, but what holds it together, what makes it work through obstacles great and small is love. And not the romantic kind of love, but storge, the love that pushes a parent or a spouse or a child to be something beyond themselves. This ties into the other lesson Burt and Verona learn on their trip: you are never without roots.