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Synopsis:
Director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY) may invoke plenty of
indie-comedy tropes in this comic venture, but AWAY WE GO is a
tender, sweet, and surprisingly funny addition to the genre.
Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) is six
months pregnant, but she and her boyfriend, Burt Farlander
(John Krasinski, THE OFFICE), aren’t tied down to their
current house in Colorado. A sense of adventure and the desire
to find a place to call home propels the couple across North
America, stopping in Arizona, Wisconsin, Montreal, and Miami,
where they learn the how-to's (and how-not-to's) of parenting
from friends and family. The episodic nature of the film
allows a variety of talented actors to appear briefly,
including Catherine O’Hara and Jeff Daniels as Burt’s flighty
parents, Allison Janney as an inappropriate ex-coworker of
Verona’s, and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton as
pretentious hippie parents. But the film rests firmly on the
capable shoulders of its lead actors; though Rudolph and
Krasinski are best known for their TV work, AWAY WE GO allows
both performers to shine in ways audiences haven’t seen
before. There’s a comfortable chemistry between them, earning
authenticity from their strong performances and a good script
from real-life spouses Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida.
Mendes--who has previously stuck to dramas such as
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD and JARHEAD--makes a nice transition to
comedy that should appeal to fans of films like GARDEN STATE
and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Celebrated cinematographer Ellen
Kuras (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) lends a lovely,
earthy look to the film, while indie singer-songwriter Alexi
Murdoch provides a soundtrack that underscores the film’s
sweet sincerity.
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