I’m a big fan of Dave Eggers; both of his writings and his role as founder of the independent publishing house McSweeney’s. However, I didn’t actually know that he and his wife, Vendela Vida had written the screenplay to Away We Go when I saw the movie. I was drawn to it more through the fact that it was directed by Sam Mendes.
Everything in the film hangs on how you feel about the couple, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) who are expecting their first child.
Feeling dissatisfied with their current home, they embark on a journey in search of the perfect place to lay down roots and start a family. The friends and relatives they meet in Phoenix, Tucson, Madison, Montreal and Miami mostly give examples of what not to do.
Burt’s a bit of a nerd, Verona is a practical, down to earth type. They are compassionate pair who are determined to put humanity before consumerism. What they want is for their daughter to grow up in a positive environment. With such laudable principles, they should be characters you feel like rooting for I ultimately found their niceness quite irritating.
Eventually they end up settling for Verona’s old family home so could have saved time and money on the road trip.
There’s no real tension in the story and a curious absence of passion. Insipid Nick Drake style songs of Scottish singer-songwriter Alexi Murdoch add to the flat texture.
In Italy the movie was released as American Life, a title that reflect the apparent aim of giving a snapshot of U.S. views pertaining to family life. Since what we see are largely caricatures I was none the wiser about what these attitudes might be and therefore was left wondering what the point of the movie was.
