Film Review: Away We Go (Spoilers)

I’m a Sam Mendes fan. I loved ‘American Beauty’, but this just fell flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, I know how good leads John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph were, I liked the indie feel to it, the theatrical pacing and the general positivity, but it felt like the film was trying to say something, and didn’t know quite what. Was this another Mike Leigh-style ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’? Was it a romantic comedy? Was it a social commentary on the nature of parenthood, with some gentle comic observations thrown in? Who could say? I was just left not really caring.

Krasinski and Rudolph’s relationship really is a delightful break from the stereotypical norm – not only have they been together for a long time, but they remain completely in love, and there are no skeletons in the closet ready to tear them apart; they’re also having a baby. When his parents (Jeff Daniels & Catherine O’Hara) declare they’re going to move to Antwerp, Rudolph acknowledges it’s time for them to move on too. The road trip they embark on crosses paths with distant relations, former classmates and bosses, all in a search for what defines home and what makes a good parent. Ex-boss Alison Janney in Arizona and cousin Maggie Gyllenhaal in particular liven things up with some sharp comic turns (particularly Janney) and act as perfectly dysfunctional foils to our entirely stable heroes, but director Mendes does little more than scratch the surface of why there should be such a contrast. Where Mike Leigh’s heroine’s unflinching happiness and fundamentally good nature deeply affected those around her, the effect Krasinski and Rudolph have is only hinted at. We see their perceptions challenged by the people they come across (and their steadfastness is impressive in the continuing age of grim & gritty), but Mendes offers no conflict of note for us or them; the ending is particularly schmaltzy. A genuinely interesting film about middle-age-on-the-horizon was there for the taking, but instead he delivers an episodic tick-sheet of ‘what parenthood is about’.

Having said that the film is entirely about Krasinski and Rudolph, and they are more than up to the task. As a pairing they’re flawless, and Rudolph in particular shines, doing blissfully little to give added depth to what might otherwise have been a very bland character, particularly when up against Krasinski’s amiable goofiness. But they could have been so much more. Writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida have written a cute, but ultimately throwaway film – highly engaging, but I left the cinema thinking ‘so what?’

7/10