Indie rock’s childhood obsessions are seeping into indie films. The
Juno-style crayon-drawing title on the Away We Go poster
signals director Sam Mendes’ effort to break from his imperfect but
cinematic oeuvre (American Beauty, Jarhead, Road to
Perdition) for a quirky folk rock-scored comedy, written by
real-life couple Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. It’s a better fit than
might be expected, but only when Mendes keeps things funny.
Expecting couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph)
wonder if they’re failures. They’re in their 30s, and still without a
clear sense that they’ve gotten things together. That’s a poignant,
timely angle for a modern relationship story. With their sardonic look
(Burt is a dead ringer for hipster essayist Chuck Klosterman), the
couple embarks on a cross-North American odyssey to get a sense of
parenthood and themselves. But it’s when things get more serious that
Away We Go unwinds into narcissism.
Meeting with other hapless parents (the most embarrassing of them
played by Maggie Gyllenhaal as a moronic guru of alternative
parenting), Verona and Burt repeatedly have their superiority affirmed.
This makes for a confidence booster, but it’s childish, which is key to
Away We Go‘s ideological failure.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.
You know what was great about this movie? Long takes! Our ADD culture has ruined pacing; a lot of directors consider ratatat cuts and mutliple angles “edgy” (see Ritchie, Guy) when really they’re just covering for their poor casting choices and lack of story. Bring back the long take (not to be confused with the ironic wide shot)!