Away We Go tells the story of a banal thirty-something couple; Burt Farlander (John Krasinksi from The U.S. Office), an undefined middle class insurance salesman, and Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph from Saturday Night Live), an orphaned medical artist, who find themselves on the move after Burt’s parents decided to retire in Belgium. The rest of the story plays out in four parts as the two find them in the excesses of 21st century parenthood; from alcoholic neglect to over-bearing hippies.

Krasinksi plays his part wonderfully, he bumbles his away around and we find it hard not to be completely endeared by a character who finds it difficult to get angry. Maya Rudolph also makes the jump to dramatic actor with great ease, the cynicism of her character is slowly broken down through the film and we know where she stands at all junctures. There are also some brilliantly selected cameos and supporting roles (Jeff Daniels, Catherine O’Hara, and Maggie Gyllenhaal being the most prominent ones.)

The structure of the film allows for the viewer to follow with great ease the move from one city to the next within a 98-minute structure. However, Sam Mendes is the weak pillar in what is essentially a solid film; he shot the film in post-production of the multi-Oscar nominated Revolutionary Road, and the neglect with which this movie is treated is very apparent.

First off, Sam Mendes claims that it was much easier to shoot this film coming off the back of another of film, but instead we see a much more relaxed director who tends to becomes self-indulgent with pointless visual symbolism and repetitive scenes that he uses to reinforce points he considers important.

Secondly, there is a definite sense of different direction skills throughout the film which leads to inconsistent portrayals by the actors. This is no more evident than in the part of the film with Gyllenhaal, in which we have quite well-defined, controlled characters in one moment and then this breaks down and anarchy tends to be the scene (which even in the context of the scene seems somewhat over-blown) as the direction seems to be lacking.

Finally, Sam Mendes’ tendency to be self-indulgent in this film puts a lot of pressure on the editor and we are brought to an abrupt ending as a result, the ten or so minutes which Mendes spent allowing for his vision to come out should have been spent on fleshing out the ending more.

However, the film is genuinely funny in places and sweet in others. The strongest part of the film is the sequence shot in Montreal where we truly feel for all the characters involved, we see some of the most sincere acting of the film, Mendes tones down his symbolism and we are given some beautifully shot scenes.

- Peter Downey

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