Hooray for the return of the good Sam Mendes.
His last two efforts were lackluster at best (yeah, I disliked Revolutionary Road and Jarhead what? ), before that were two masterpieces of modern cinema.
So with Away We Go, hopefully this means Mendes is back to form.
This little love story follows an odd, quirky couple (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) who have very little in the world and find that they are pregnant and about to have even less.
They search for a new place to live and a fresh start to life with the prospect of raising a child closing in on the horizon.
Rudolph's Verona and Krasinski's Burt are likeable and interesting, and it's interesting to see Rudolph try to do some serious acting and pull it off surprisingly well since her SNL years were unfunny and her other movie work has been minor roles with no real substance.
At times hilarious and at other times deeply sad and moving, the stars and supporting cast (especially a brief part by Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey as the friends in Canada) create one of the best romantic comedies that has been produced in recent years.
Away We Go feels like an indie production, even with the big names attached and the fact that it really fits the modern formula for dramedy perfectly.
The real faults in Away We Go are when the characters blur the line between acting and caricature. Maggie Gyllenhaal's new-age hippie mom and Jim Gaffigan's drunken dope hover right around that line and feel a little contrived at times.
Overall though, the movie is fun to watch and well acted, even through some weak spots, and is well worth the time and ticket price.
Away We Go gets a B+.