“Away We Go”

Reviewed 7 June 2009 by Ted Faraone

Two stars out of five.  $4.50 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.00.

Lifestyles of the Goofy and Pregnant

Your critic never researches movies before screening them.  It is an attempt not to form an opinion until seeing the picture.  Unfortunately there are some titles that ignite a misimpression.  Your critic thought that “Away We Go,” the latest from director-for-hire Sam Mendes (“Revolutionary Road”) was a documentary about Jackie Gleason until the first reel unspooled.

Gleason would deserve better.

It is not that Mendes has committed an act of cinematic injustice.  It’s just that “Away We Go” goes nowhere.  Clearly Mendes gave it his best shot.  Blame goes to writers Peter Eggers and Vendela Vida.  It’s a sort of Gulliver’s Travels sans moral.  A 30-something couple (Verona played by Maya Rudolph and Bert by John Krasinski), six months into expecting their first, go on a road trip to reconnect with old friends, relatives, and find a place to live with their soon-to-arrive daughter. 

“Away We Go” is a series of amusing tableaux wherein some very excellent performers take star turns to make up for the missing plot.  Among them are Jeff Daniels as Bert’s self-centered, ex-hippie dad, Maggie Gyllenhaall as LN, Bert’s self-absorbed, new-age, wealthy childhood friend, and Allison Janney as Verona’s deliciously cynical friend and former co-worker living in Tucson. 

The tableaux alone are worth the ticket price, but tableaux do not a film make.  Bert is a bearded goofball.  Verona is a hugely pregnant (for six months) stabilizing force.  The action of the film, such as it is, is their reactions to their surroundings and the characters who have defined their lives.  They are sort of the tabula rasa on which others write.  But pricelessly funny scenes do not make up for the absence of plot and dramatic tension.  At the outset we know that Verona refuses to marry Bert.  At the end she still refuses to marry Bert despite a scene in which a set of ad hoc vows are exchanged.

Ultimately, pic’s only payoff is that the couple find a place to live.  One doesn’t need a feature film to slake a thirst for real estate.  Cinema has done better by the subject.  Go back a couple of generations to Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse.”  It’s not an exact parallel by any means, but it more than conveys the drama of “place” and the passion of commitment in a far more convincing screenplay than “Away We Go” offers.

“Away We Go” is rated R.  Why?  Aside from the lack of a plot, there is nothing offensive about it.

Finally, a note on the title.  In his CBS-TV variety program, Jackie Gleason ended his opening monologue with the phrase, “Away we go!”  It launched the sketch portion of the show.  A middle aged critic can hardly be blamed for the initial misimpression and the high expectation it generated.

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