 "Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features")
It’s strange to think that only six months ago director Sam Mendes made “Revolutionary Road,” a film about how settling down will rob you of your ambition and dreams.
While that film was darker than a Sunday dinner between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the director’s latest film, “Away We Go,” is probably the cheeriest thing that Mendes has tackled. Unlike “Road’s” decidedly dour look at domesticated life, “Away We Go” deals with a young couple about to have a child and attempting to find the perfect home in which to start their family.
With all the trademarks of a summer indie-film darling, “Away We Go” is equal parts charming and underwhelming.
Bert (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) are said couple. After a dinner at Bert’s parents’ house, where they find out his parents are moving to Belgium, the duo decides to venture across America, seeking out friends and relatives it can live near once the baby arrives.
Despite the film’s laughs, touching moments and fantastic chemistry between the two leads, “Away We Go” is slightly disappointing because it gives a few glimmers of greatness until it settles for just being pretty good. In particular, the couple’s trip to Montreal is absolutely wonderful, and filled with great dialogue.
Aside from this, there are too many moments in the film, written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, that elicit an “Oh, that’s cute,” or “Oh, that’s clever,” and “Away We Go” usually fails to get beyond that.
Rating: Three-out-of-five stars
