If I was in charge of Oscar Best Picture of the year, I’d make AWAY WE GO my first nominee. The combination of drama and comedy is perfect. An excellent indie flick by one of the greatest directors of our time. It’s artful, hilarious, romantic, but… it’s also sad and eye-opening. A road trip movie that gives you different kinds of families out there and allows me you make the choice.
Directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) from an original screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, this funny and heartfelt film follows the journey of an expectant couple (John Krasinski [“The Office’] and Maya Rudolph [“Saturday Night Live’]), as they travel the U.S. in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover “home” on their own terms for the first time. The movie features the music of Alexi Murdoch.
I also think screenwriters Dave Eggers and spouse Vendela Vida should be nominated for their original material. You’d have to be a hard-ass not to fall in love with the two lead characters and the story. In a way, it’s like a coming-of-age movie but instead of one person finding himself, it’s a couple finding what it means to be together as they’re about to have a family of their own. John Krasinski plays Burt while Maya Rudolph plays Verona. Burt is a guy who wants to be married to Verona but Verona thinks two people don’t have to be married, plus she’s still stuck in the sadness that comes with the fact that her parents won’t be around for such an occasion. The dialogue that Eggers and Vida created has consistent humor that’s not far-fetched, it’s edgy and relevant, what any of us would say if we react quick enough. Right after we’re hit with some dramatic moments, they make sure the plane lands smoothly again for a moment of sweet revelation. Director Sam Mendes is known for heavy, dark, depressing stories (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road) but he steers away from that just for this one. He handles each situation with such grace, like a Sundance filmmaker would. So much simplicity and yet you can sense that it doesn’t lose grip on its basic quality which is telling a story. All of the characters that Burt and Verona encounter have stories of their own, we’re entertained by how they came to be, but we’re not bombarded with slo-mo or flashbacks, or unnecessary effects. I can only imagine how great this movie would been like if the late Conrad L. Hall were still around to help Mendes but DP Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) does a fabulous job at being in harmony with the couple’s conversations which basically become the heart of this movie. I also like the folk music that accompanies each scene.
I don’t know if Krasinski is a movie star material but he’s definitely a talented actor. As Burt, Krasinski understands that he’s playing a happy-go-lucky, optimistic man who would do anything for the love of his life and the child he’s carrying even if it means sacrificing the chance to ever be married. There’s a scene when Burt asks Verona one last time, you can see the longing in Krasinski’s face and how it suddenly changes into disappointment the second he hears the same answer once again. Maya Rudolph is radiant and profound but often worried, as Verona who loves Burt with all her heart but is still saddened by the death of her parents. Eventually, instead of running away, they decide to return to the past and start anew. I think it’s great that the two individuals always communicate with each other, always discuss, always encouraging and reminding themselves how lucky they are to have one another. The ingredient to a heathy relationship.
Equally great performances by the supporting cast, they play unique characters that will crack you up. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Allison Janney need to be considered for Best supporting Oscar nominations. They’re both crazy, eccentric wives/mothers, nothing short of memorable. Everyone’s got issues.
What I love about AWAY WE GO is that we’re presented with different kinds of families. Burt and Verona’s commitment to each other is tested by whether or not other people could actually last. There are those who act like they’re in love but they hate each other’s guts and they’re not good at hiding it either. There are those who seem happy but they’re actually sad from tragedy of not being able to bear their own kid. There are those who think they know better when it comes to raising a child, and there are those conflicted because separation is inevitable and the child could end up without a mother. Burt and Verona even learn the hard lesson from Burt’s own parents who don’t seem to care anymore about anybody else except themselves. What kind of parents would they want to be is the question that lingers in Burt and Verona’s minds as they do their little journey. But everything comes into clarity for the two when they exchange vows in the most unorthodox way while lying on a trampoline, under the stars in the middle of Miami night.
Is marriage over-rated? Can a relationship and family work without having to sign anything? Those are the issues that AWAY WE GO seems to want to tackle but it doesn’t, because.. all it does is put the options on the table and allows you to make your own choice. Burt and Verona make theirs.
* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film
