Away We Go (2009)

Directed by: Sam Mendes | 98 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: John Krasinksi, Maya Rudolph, Carmen Ejogo, Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Samantha Pryor, Conor Caroll, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Bailey Harkins, Brendan Spitz, Jaden Spitz, Chris Messina, Melanie Lynskey, Colton Parsons, Katherine Vaskevich, Jerome Stephens Jr., Brianna Eunmi Kim, Paul Schneider, Isabelle Moon Alexander

Sam Mendes, who also made American Beauty, is now making a film that feels like the small, low-budget debut of a young aspiring director. Not that it comes across as a typical ‘beginner film’; it would have been a good debut. Strange that a director would take such a step, especially in Hollywood. Perhaps it is a strategic move in the sense that the alternative branch of Hollywood (read: the branch that also wants to benefit from the successes of smaller films) wanted to use Mendes’ talent to make a small audience favorite such as ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. . But like the sequel to that movie (with the ridiculous title: ‘Sunshine Cleaning’), it’s not always said that it works. So the question is whether this film will be such a crowd favorite.

The downside is that the target audience seems rather shielded. The two main characters are in their thirties who don’t seem to fit into any category. They are not really alternative, not necessarily hip, but certainly not ‘ordinary’ and at the same time they are all. But whether everyone can identify with people in their thirties who are a bit intellectual, a bit alternative, a bit hip, but also a bit losers, without money and without obvious work (where do they get the money for all that travel?) to be seen. In any case, they are charming and it shows that they love each other. Moreover, they are surrounded by people who are even crazier, or much more ordinary than they are and they (and so do we as viewers) find out that that doesn’t matter at all and that it is mainly the love that two people have for each other. feel, that holds it all together and that also carries the film. Perhaps they are a bit too reasonable with the two of them, a bit too perfect almost, but that is done in such a way that you can also see it as a fine example of how it should be possible, especially because of the humor. And of course by a well-written script and an excellent cast.

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are well directed and form the distinct, yet very believable couple. Both aren’t big in Hollywood yet and probably won’t be, but they already have quite a few titles to their name. Rudolph is also quite known for the satirical program “Saturday Night Live”, which perhaps explains why she comes out well in a slightly comic-dramatic setting, although it is more Krasinski who occasionally plays the clown here.

Despite all the ideas you may have about it, ‘Away We Go’ has become a quirky, alternative production, if only because it’s one of the first ‘green films’ to produce half as much waste as it was produced. than with an average production, just to name a few. But above all, it is yet another proof that Sam Mendes is a great director, who after many strong films such as ‘American Beauty’, ‘Jarhead’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’ shows again that he is not afraid to make big themes personal and close. to let it come. And because the tone of this film is light, it never gets really bad, but there is a nice tear to shed here and there. And so ‘Away We Go’ is nice, warm, sometimes funny and certainly entertaining, provided you can identify with those two thirty-somethings of course. Or just with love, then it will actually work out.