Writer: Jonathan Sullivan
Starring: John Krasinski, Mya Rudolph
Writers: Vandela Vida/Dave Eggers
Director: Sam Mendes
Distributor: Focus Features
Writers: Vandela Vida/Dave Eggers
Director: Sam Mendes
Distributor: Focus Features
Away We Go escaped my radar earlier this year, not lasting long enough in any of the theaters around me to give me a chance to see it. The film stars Jim Halp...John Krasinski and Mya Rudolph as Burt and Verona, a couple in their 30's who decide to travel and find a new place to live and raise their impending child after Burt's parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they are taking off for Spain. Along the way, Burt and Verona run across old friends, relatives, and try to make sense of the world and their own lives through them.
All in all, I enjoyed the film. It was engaging, funny when it needed to be, dramatic when it needed to be, and paced almost perfectly. Krasinski shines as Burt, but in all actuality, it's really a Jim Halpert kind of role, but with a beard and a splash more neuroses and annoying habits. This is a star making vehicle for Rudolph though, showing acting chops that were not very well known during her SNL days. I was very impressed and was thinking "daaaamn that annoying chick on SNL with the freckles can act!" Coupled with her role in A Praire Home Companion (where she was also pregnant...typecast alert?), Rudolph has the chops and now the resume to actually make a career for herself in Hollywood as opposed to say...pretty much everyone else on SNL.
The supporting cast, who flow in and out of the film, also shine while they have their moment in the spotlight. Alison Janney as Verona's old boss is hilarious as a loud mouth drunk who you can tell hates her life but will not admit it to anyone. Maggie Gyllenhall(SIC and don't care to correct it) plays an over hippie woman with some weird ideas on child rearing (no strollers for example).
As good as they were, they didn't come close to Chris Messina and Melaine Lynskey, who play Tom and Munch Garnett, old college pals of Burt and Verona who are married, successful, and supposedly happy. The film's heavy dramatic element belongs to them and their relationship and for the 20 minutes they were on, they completely stole the show away from Krasinski and Rudolph. Dare I say it: their relationship was more complicated and should have been a movie in and of itself.
The only drawback I could see was the sense of humor. The comedy is okay, but more in the vein of casual laugh or chuckle. That's more of a personal thing though, as I'm sure intellectuals and hipsters will be laughing until they cry.
Away We Go, for what it is, is an excellent movie, but outside of a possible nomination for Rudolph shouldn't make any real dents in awards season.
All in all, I enjoyed the film. It was engaging, funny when it needed to be, dramatic when it needed to be, and paced almost perfectly. Krasinski shines as Burt, but in all actuality, it's really a Jim Halpert kind of role, but with a beard and a splash more neuroses and annoying habits. This is a star making vehicle for Rudolph though, showing acting chops that were not very well known during her SNL days. I was very impressed and was thinking "daaaamn that annoying chick on SNL with the freckles can act!" Coupled with her role in A Praire Home Companion (where she was also pregnant...typecast alert?), Rudolph has the chops and now the resume to actually make a career for herself in Hollywood as opposed to say...pretty much everyone else on SNL.
The supporting cast, who flow in and out of the film, also shine while they have their moment in the spotlight. Alison Janney as Verona's old boss is hilarious as a loud mouth drunk who you can tell hates her life but will not admit it to anyone. Maggie Gyllenhall(SIC and don't care to correct it) plays an over hippie woman with some weird ideas on child rearing (no strollers for example).
As good as they were, they didn't come close to Chris Messina and Melaine Lynskey, who play Tom and Munch Garnett, old college pals of Burt and Verona who are married, successful, and supposedly happy. The film's heavy dramatic element belongs to them and their relationship and for the 20 minutes they were on, they completely stole the show away from Krasinski and Rudolph. Dare I say it: their relationship was more complicated and should have been a movie in and of itself.
The only drawback I could see was the sense of humor. The comedy is okay, but more in the vein of casual laugh or chuckle. That's more of a personal thing though, as I'm sure intellectuals and hipsters will be laughing until they cry.
Away We Go, for what it is, is an excellent movie, but outside of a possible nomination for Rudolph shouldn't make any real dents in awards season.