A film about unconventional love and family and where they'll take you.
Away We Go
starring John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal
directed by Sam Mendes
The best part of this film is the feeling you have when you leave the theater. There’s a craft in film making that often gets over looked when plot and good acting is not a concern; the craft of emotion. This movie takes you to places in your heart that you didn’t know existed, or that you haven’t been to in quite some time. But, I’m getting slightly ahead of myself.
Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudoplh) are two very in love, and unmarried, people that discover they are pregnant. Burt has asked time and again for Verona to marry him, and she continues to say no although she has pledged that she will never leave him. (And on a side note, its heart breaking when you find out why she won’t marry him). They have moved to be nearer to Burt’s parents since Verona’s have passed away some time before. However, Burt’s parents move away practically overnight, and the couple decide that they don’t have to be there anymore, and take off on the road to visit friends in different areas of the country to see where they might want to rasie their child.
The drama and plot of this movie is just beautiful. Burt and Verona constantly doubt themselves on whether they’ll be good parents or not. Verona wonders if they are screw ups. Their trip takes them to several vastly different family situations, and helps them to find out more about themselves along the way.
First, there’s Burt’s parents. They are extremely self centered, and do little to help out with their son in his time of need. They pick up and abandon them when they are in their highest time of need. Then there is the first stop on the trip, Verona’s former coworker Lily and her husband Lowell. Lily tells Verona about how many times she has ‘almost’ left Lowell and simultaneously berates and ignores her children. Its a prime example of how marriage doesn’t always work for people, and it is possible to screw up parenthood. Next, Burt and Verona visit his childhood friend LN and her husband Roderick. They are, for lack of a better term, hippies. They have a communal family bed for themselves and their children, and do lots of other things that normal Americans would consider outrageous. They are a humorous but equally appalling variation of parenting that Burt and Verona immediately reject.
They then travel to their college friends home, Tom and Munch. They’ve adopted several children and have a very happy home. However, there is pain underneath the surface in their home, and it is just another great example of how the word ‘family’ can mean so many different things. And finally they meet up with Burt’s brother Courtney, whose wife recently left him. He must now raise a child alone, and this brings up the marriage question yet again with Burt and Verona.
Without giving away too many plot details, this is a road trip for Burt and Verona, but it is also an emotional journey that shows them trying to figure out what kind of parent they will be, and what kind they want to be. There is wonderful humor mixed throughout, and a really great, unspoken truth that is found at the end. You’ll just have to see it to understand what I mean.
The acting was wonderful. Who knew Krasinski actually had acting chops? And I am not by any means a Maya Rudolph fan. I hated all her work on SNL. However, I may now be a true believer; her scenes were beautiful, and she really added some depth to the character of Verona that might not have been there otherwise. All the cameos are awesome, and Sam Mendes did a fine job directing.
Its a beautiful film that sadly didn’t get the distribution that it rightfully deserved. It took at least a month to go wide release, and even then I’m not sure enough people will see it. It’ll end up being one of those films that is nominated for multiple Academy Awards that over half the audience will have never seen. And that really is sad. I’m predicting a best original screenplay win, and perhaps a best picture nod with the expanded nominee rule. It is definitely worth your time and worth picking up on Blu Ray or DVD if that is what you have to do to see it.
And you will walk away feeling something extraordinary, which is more than most movies these days will do for you.
Away We Go… to the Oscars!
A film about unconventional love and family and where they'll take you.
Away We Go
starring John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal
directed by Sam Mendes
The best part of this film is the feeling you have when you leave the theater. There’s a craft in film making that often gets over looked when plot and good acting is not a concern; the craft of emotion. This movie takes you to places in your heart that you didn’t know existed, or that you haven’t been to in quite some time. But, I’m getting slightly ahead of myself.
Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudoplh) are two very in love, and unmarried, people that discover they are pregnant. Burt has asked time and again for Verona to marry him, and she continues to say no although she has pledged that she will never leave him. (And on a side note, its heart breaking when you find out why she won’t marry him). They have moved to be nearer to Burt’s parents since Verona’s have passed away some time before. However, Burt’s parents move away practically overnight, and the couple decide that they don’t have to be there anymore, and take off on the road to visit friends in different areas of the country to see where they might want to rasie their child.
The drama and plot of this movie is just beautiful. Burt and Verona constantly doubt themselves on whether they’ll be good parents or not. Verona wonders if they are screw ups. Their trip takes them to several vastly different family situations, and helps them to find out more about themselves along the way.
First, there’s Burt’s parents. They are extremely self centered, and do little to help out with their son in his time of need. They pick up and abandon them when they are in their highest time of need. Then there is the first stop on the trip, Verona’s former coworker Lily and her husband Lowell. Lily tells Verona about how many times she has ‘almost’ left Lowell and simultaneously berates and ignores her children. Its a prime example of how marriage doesn’t always work for people, and it is possible to screw up parenthood. Next, Burt and Verona visit his childhood friend LN and her husband Roderick. They are, for lack of a better term, hippies. They have a communal family bed for themselves and their children, and do lots of other things that normal Americans would consider outrageous. They are a humorous but equally appalling variation of parenting that Burt and Verona immediately reject.
They then travel to their college friends home, Tom and Munch. They’ve adopted several children and have a very happy home. However, there is pain underneath the surface in their home, and it is just another great example of how the word ‘family’ can mean so many different things. And finally they meet up with Burt’s brother Courtney, whose wife recently left him. He must now raise a child alone, and this brings up the marriage question yet again with Burt and Verona.
Without giving away too many plot details, this is a road trip for Burt and Verona, but it is also an emotional journey that shows them trying to figure out what kind of parent they will be, and what kind they want to be. There is wonderful humor mixed throughout, and a really great, unspoken truth that is found at the end. You’ll just have to see it to understand what I mean.
The acting was wonderful. Who knew Krasinski actually had acting chops? And I am not by any means a Maya Rudolph fan. I hated all her work on SNL. However, I may now be a true believer; her scenes were beautiful, and she really added some depth to the character of Verona that might not have been there otherwise. All the cameos are awesome, and Sam Mendes did a fine job directing.
Its a beautiful film that sadly didn’t get the distribution that it rightfully deserved. It took at least a month to go wide release, and even then I’m not sure enough people will see it. It’ll end up being one of those films that is nominated for multiple Academy Awards that over half the audience will have never seen. And that really is sad. I’m predicting a best original screenplay win, and perhaps a best picture nod with the expanded nominee rule. It is definitely worth your time and worth picking up on Blu Ray or DVD if that is what you have to do to see it.
And you will walk away feeling something extraordinary, which is more than most movies these days will do for you.
4 out of 4 stars