Away We Go (2009)

A couple who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.

Director:

Sam Mendes

Writers:

Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida

Stars:

John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Carmen Ejogo

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Krasinski	...	Burt
Maya Rudolph	...	Verona
Carmen Ejogo	...	Grace
Catherine O'Hara	...	Gloria
Jeff Daniels	...	Jerry
Allison Janney	...	Lily
Jim Gaffigan	...	Lowell
Samantha Pryor	...	Ashley
Conor Carroll	...	Taylor
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	LN
Josh Hamilton	...	Roderick
Bailey Harkins	...	Wolfie
Brendan Spitz	...	Baby Neptune
Jaden Spitz	...	Baby Neptune
Chris Messina	...	Tom

Storyline

Burt Farlander and Verona De Tessant are a couple steeped in eccentricity and irregularity but are very much in love. So when they find out that Verona is pregnant they seem to be taking it in their stride. Verona is enjoying pregnancy, Burt is already practicing skill that he believes a good father should have, and they living in the same state as Burt's parents, Jerry and Gloria, so that their prospective daughter can have grandparents. However, things are shaken up when Burt and Verona go to dinner at Jerry and Gloria's house, as Burt's parents reveal a surprising piece of news. They have decided to move to Antwerp in Belguim a month before the baby is due, scuppering Burt and Verona's plans of having their children's grandparents around. Because Verona lost her parents when she was relatively young, she finds this news very hard to take, but the resilient couple quickly find a way to turn it in to a positive. It becomes obvious that this is what the pair needed, as they decide to ...

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Plot Keywords:

baby | friend | love | children | home | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farlanders

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£250,211 (UK) (18 September 2009)

Gross:

£250,211 (UK) (18 September 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Edward Saxon Productions (ESP), Big Beach Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is the first studio production to adopt green filmmaking initiatives aimed to reduce CO2 emission. Garbage was reduced by half, thanks to the various bins for recyclable material. Caterers used ceramic and washed dishes as opposed to throwaway products. Vehicles on the set used biodiesel fuel.

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Goofs

When Burt and Verona arrive at her childhood home, the scene cuts back and forth between a shot through the house towards the water, and a shot from that side back through the door they originally entered. The shots featuring the shore front side of the house show a strong breeze and lots of tree movement, while the shots looking the other direction show no wind and the trees completely still.

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Quotes

Tom Garnett: It's all those good things you have in you. The love, the wisdom, the generosity, the selflessness, the patience. The patience! At 3 A.M. when everyone's awake because Ibrahim is sick and he can't find the bathroom and he's just puked all over Katki's bed. When you blink, when you blink! And it's 5:30 and it's time to get up again and you know you're going to be tired all day, all week, all your fucking life. And you're thinking what happened to Greece? What happened to swimming naked off the ...

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Connections

Featured in The Culture Show: Episode #11.7 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Sin Tu Amor"
Written and Performed by Gabriel Francisco

User Reviews

A road movie with a difference

Away We Go (2009), directed by Sam Mendes, is a road movie with a difference. Many road movies involve strangers met by the protagonist as he or she travels from place to place. Away We Go sends the two main characters into different locations, but all the people they meet are people they already know, or think they know.

When Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) learns that she is pregnant, the question for her and her partner, Burt (John Krasinkski) is, Where do we live after the baby is born? To answer the question, they travel from distant (U.S. and Canadian) city to distant city. Mostly what they find is disappointment and bad surprises.

Lily (Allison Janney), a former boss and friend, proves to be a dysfunctional person raising a dysfunctional family. A "cousin," LN (Maggie Gyllenhaal) gives new meaning to the words New Age. Verona's sister Grace (Carmen Ejogo) has her own problems and heartaches.

There are jokes (and laughs) along the way, but, the trip gets more and more discouraging (for them and us) as the movie goes along. What saves Verona and Burt (and the movie) is the loving, caring, and realistic relationship between the couple. They're both interesting, quirky, and attractive people. We care for them, and we want their quest to succeed.

Both Janney and Gyllenhaal are outstanding--as expected--although Mendes has portrayed both their characters in an exaggerated, over-the-top fashion. That's OK--we get the point, and the movie is a work of fiction, not a documentary.

Maya Rudolph makes a smooth transition from TV (SNL) to film. She's not drop-dead beautiful in the Hollywood style, which makes her more attractive (to me) and more appropriate to the character she plays.

Burt's character is more problematic. He's supposed to be someone who "sells insurance to insurance companies," but he looks and dresses more like an assistant manager at a fast- food restaurant. (He goes to a job interview dressed like someone who has picked out his clothing at a thrift shop.) And, given his moderate success in business, and Verona's equally moderate success as a medical illustrator, they're amazingly casual about spending money. Are they using their life's savings?

All in all, this is a movie worth seeing, but not likely to be on anyone's list of all-time favorite movies. We saw it at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It would also work well on DVD.