Away We Go was simply endearing and real.
John Krasinski and
Maya Rudolph are soul mates and you know this within the first 30 minutes of the movie. Wonderful, wonderful cast,
Catherine O’Hare and
Jeff Daniels portray
Krasinski’s kinda loopy parents who decide to move to Europe the month before
Rudolph’s character gives birth, which totally surprises the couple. Why wouldn’t the grandparents want to stick around?
So this leads them to search of a place where they can settle down and raise their child. They decide to visit some friends and family and all these various connections show them what they want and don’t want in their lives. Continuing with a great cast,
Allison Janney and
Jim Gaffifgan also share an afternoon with
Krasinski and
Rudolph’s character, as the women used to work together years ago. They also visit
Carmen Ejogo, who plays
Rudolph’s younger sister and the chemistry onscreen of them playing sisters who’ve lost their parents young and
Rudolph’s character having more memories and images over her sister is very touching and completely real. The next set of characters are college buddies, played by
Melanie Lynskey and
Chris Messina, who are married and have adopted several children and there is a heart wrenching scene between
Messina and
Krasinski and
Lynskey made me feel her emotions. Probably the best scene and acting for me!
They also visit some family friends played by the great
Maggie Gyllenhaal and
Josh Hamilton. This couple is a tad bit odd and completely unlike all the other people they interact with and it is hilarious how
Krasinski’s character is pretty laid back throughout the whole film until he has had enough – hilarious! Then
Krasinski’s older bother has an emergency and they have to make a stop in Florida and in the middle of the night
Rudolph and
Krasinski have a very honest conversation and it is simply wonderful to see people being completely open and honest with their hopes, doubts of themselves, their wants and fears of being a disappointment in life – No bullshit! But this road trip of finding the perfect place to raise their child and have their family roots was right there the entire time but it took this trip to make them realize it. A very touching film and so different and such a refreshing look at life told from a different angle.
The wonderful and talented
Sam Mendes directed this movie which was completely different than what I have seen in a long time and it was such a true honest film. The characters were great and you could feel the joy, sadness and the crazy. This movie is a great film; you will laugh, cry, laugh again and then cry of joy and sadness. All things that we feel everyday.
Definitely worth watching!
http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/away_we_go/