Away We Go

Away We Go
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Sam Mendes
Written by	Dave Eggers Vendela Vida
Starring	John Krasinski Maya Rudolph Jeff Daniels Carmen Ejogo Jim Gaffigan Maggie Gyllenhaal Josh Hamilton Allison Janney Melanie Lynskey Chris Messina Catherine O'Hara Paul Schneider
Cinematography	Ellen Kuras
Edited by	Sarah Flack
Music by	Alexi Murdoch
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release date	June 5, 2009 (limited)
Running time	98 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7,500,000
Box office	$9,451,946

Away We Go is a 2009 comedy-drama directed by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes and written by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film stars John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Paul Schneider, Carmen Ejogo, Chris Messina, Melanie Lynskey, Josh Hamilton, Jim Gaffigan, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

It had a limited theater release in the United States starting June 5, 2009. It opened the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 29, 2009.

Plot

Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) and Burt Farlander (John Krasinski) are in their early 30s and still struggling to meet their daily needs and build fulfilling lives as an anatomy artist and a salesman of insurance futures, respectively. They discover that Verona is pregnant with a baby girl. Burt is trying to find ways to make himself a good parent for their coming baby, such as learning to whittle and tie knots because he believes their daughter deserves an "epic" childhood.

Six months into Verona's pregnancy, she and Burt visit their only family in the area, Burt's parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), only to find out that they have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium for 2 years. Frustrated at Burt's parents' selfishness and ill-thinking, he and Verona see this as an opportunity to find somewhere else to raise their family.

They first visit Phoenix, Arizona, meeting up with Verona's old boss, Lily (Allison Janney), and her family: her husband, Lowell (Jim Gaffigan), and their two children, Taylor and Ashley. Burt in particular is disturbed by Lily and Lowell's crass and mean-spirited behavior toward one another and toward their children.

Burt and Verona then take a detour to Tucson, Arizona to visit Verona's sister, Grace (Carmen Ejogo). At Verona's request, Burt tries to persuade Grace to stay with her boring boyfriend. When Burt takes a call and displays his trademark humor, Grace tells Verona that she is lucky to have him and Verona agrees. Grace and Verona go shopping for bathroom fixtures for Grace's home, where she tries to get Verona to talk about their now-deceased parents, but Verona does so reluctantly. At the airport, on their way to Wisconsin, they are told they cannot fly because Verona is in her eighth month. They insist that she is only 6 months in, but they are forced to take a train.

The couple then visits one of Burt's childhood friends and pseudo-cousin, "LN" (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a college professor in Madison, Wisconsin with inherited money and incredibly radical views about parenting. Burt and Verona bring a stroller as a gift, greatly angering LN, as she and her husband Roderick (Josh Hamilton) are a "continuum home". After Roderick's condescension and LN's backhanded compliments to Verona get to be too much for Burt, he tells them that they are both horrible people. This leads to a heated argument after which Verona and Burt leave.

After the awkward encounter in Madison, Burt and Verona decide to visit old college friends living in Montreal, Tom (Chris Messina) and Munch Garnett (Melanie Lynskey), who have a diverse family of adopted children. Verona and Burt are happy to have found an example of a loving family and a nice town, and decide to move to Montreal. After dinner they wind up at a bar having an "amateur dance night", in which Munch is an active participant. During Munch's performance, Tom confesses to Burt that Munch has just recently suffered her fifth miscarriage, and that the couple seems unable to have children of their own. Verona has also picked up some clues over the night and during Munch's dance and Burt and Verona look at each other knowingly as Munch and Tom embrace.

In the morning, Burt receives an emergency call from his brother, Courtney (Paul Schneider), in Miami, whose wife has left him. Burt and Verona fly to Miami, where Courtney is worrying about his young daughter, Annabelle, and the potential effects that a divorce might have on her. Burt tries to comfort Courtney, while Verona spends her time with Annabelle, playing with her and singing to her at night before she goes to bed. Burt and Verona are dismayed that such a charming and lovely young girl should have to live the rest of her life without her mother. The couple spend the night outside on a trampoline, promising to love each other and their daughter and have a happy home.

The following morning, while sitting in the sun, Verona tells Burt a story about her childhood and her parents. Moved by her memory, Verona and Burt travel to Verona's old family home. They realize it is the place for them, and they sit together happily, overlooking the water.

Cast

• John Krasinski as Burt Farlander
• Maya Rudolph as Verona De Tessant
• Carmen Ejogo as Grace De Tessant
• Jeff Daniels as Jerry Farlander
• Catherine O'Hara as Gloria Farlander
• Allison Janney as Lily

• Jim Gaffigan as Lowell
• Maggie Gyllenhaal as LN
• Josh Hamilton as Roderick
• Melanie Lynskey as Munch Garnett
• Chris Messina as Tom Garnett
• Paul Schneider as Courtney Farlander

Critical reviews

The film has a 'fresh' rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, and received positive reviews by several top critics including Roger Ebert, David Denby (The New Yorker), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Christy Limire (AP), Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly), Stephen Whitty (Newark Star-Ledger), and Peter Travers (Rolling Stone). Praise went to the performances by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph and their surprising range, along with the solid supporting roles throughout the movie. Critics also noted that the project was a refreshing departure from past Mendes feature films, being a more "low-key" project than the more brooding and darker films that Mendes has been known for. The film has also received a considerable number of negative reviews;The New York Times describes the two main characters as self-righteous people "aware of their special status as uniquely sensitive, caring, smart and cool beings on a planet full of cretins and failures". Roger Ebert's review of the movie takes issue with the negative reviewers who call the movie's protagonists superior and condescending, saying, "If their characters find they are superior to many people, well, maybe they are."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Away We Go was released on June 2, 2009, and primarily features songs from Scottish singer/songwriter, Alexi Murdoch. "All My Days" was also featured in the film's official trailer.

1. "All My Days" by Alexi Murdoch (4:57)
2. "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch (6:18)
3. "Blue Mind" by Alexi Murdoch (5:45)
4. "Song For You" by Alexi Murdoch (4:38)
5. "Breathe" by Alexi Murdoch (4:18)
6. "Towards The Sun" by Alexi Murdoch (4:40)
7. "Meet Me In The Morning" by Bob Dylan (4:21)
8. "What Is Life" by George Harrison (4:24)
9. "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers (3:30)
10. "Wait" by Alexi Murdoch (5:59)
11. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin" by The Velvet Underground (7:28)
12. "The Ragged Sea" by Alexi Murdoch (3:19)
13. "Crinan Wood" by Alexi Murdoch (5:45)

Production

• Alternate titles in consideration for the film were Farlanders and This Must Be the Place.
• This is the only Sam Mendes film to date that does not have a score by Thomas Newman, as the two have worked together since Mendes's debut in 1999 with American Beauty.
• Toni Collette was originally set to play the role of "LN" in the film, but had to drop out due to other commitments; the role then went to Maggie Gyllenhaal.

External links

• Official site
• Away We Go at IMDb