DVD Release Date: 9/29/2009 Running Time: 98 minutes
Rated R for language and some sexual content.
The independent film seems to a genre all of its own somehow. While there has been independent filmmaking ever since there has been a studio system at all, in the past several years what mainstream audiences consider "independent films" have taken on a certain format—a mellow singer/songwriter soundtrack, hand-drawn graphics, quirky characters and a focus on love and relationships. Such films have mostly played out as comedies, such as Juno, Smart People, Sunshine Cleaning and Little Miss Sunshine, with the occasional drama like The Savages. As good as many of those films are, they seem to have become almost their own cliché, desperately in need of something to shake up the "genre." Enter Sam Mendes. The Oscar-nominated director of such films as American Beauty and Revolutionary Road turned to the independent scene this year, bringing us Away We Go. Starring Maya Rudolph, John Krasinski, Maggie Gyllenhall, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels and a host of others, the film was released in June to little fanfare, earning mixed reviews and being largely ignored amidst releases like Up, The Hangover and a little thing called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Focus Features was surely not too worried though, knowing such films tend to turn out well on DVD. Now is that time, and the movie has been released on DVD to appeal to the crowd that was more interested in popcorn fare during the summer.
The Movie
The film stars Rudolph and Krasinski as Verona and Burt, a couple who are about to have a child. Verona is six months pregnant but appears much closer to eight months, a fact that brings hilarity out occasionally. The two plan to rely on Burt's parents (O'Hara and Daniels) for support, but when they learn that said parents are going to move to Belgium before the baby is born, they decide to take a trek across the continent to see where they want to settle down and raise their child. Their travels take them to Arizona, where they meet Verona's sister Grace (Ejogo) as well as her old co-worker Lily (Janney) and Lowell (Gaffigan). Up next is Wisconsin, where they meet Burt's hippie professor cousin LN (Gyllenhall), and then to Montreal with old school friends Tom (Messina) and Munch (Lynskey). Finally is a trip to Miami where Burt's brother Paul (Schneider) lives as a single parent. Each of these trips reveals a different aspect of the challenges of love, life, relationships and being a parent, making them wonder whether they are ready for the life that awaits them.
Away We Go was written by the team of Dave Eggers and Vandela Vida. This is the first film for both, though they have garnered positive reputations as novelists. Vida and Eggers do an outstanding job here of creating a microcosm of relationships and child-rearing, including their problems, to be viewed through the eyes of Verona and Burt. As the couple encounters the people they've come to visit from Burt's parents all the way to the trip to his brother Paul, we see relationships on the downward slide. Burt's parents have decided they have no real interest in being close to their grandchildren, while Lily and Lowell are just worn down, pessimistic, vulgar and look at their children with complete disinterest. LN (a name legally changed from Ellen) and her partner are condescending in the extreme under the premise of enlightenment while they espouse the latest of whack job child rearing theories. When Burt and Verona buy them a stroller they're offended, and LN proclaims with a smile one reserves for naughty pets "I love my babies. Why would I want to PUSH them away from me?" Paul is dealing with the sudden departure of his wife and is trying to be a good single parent. Tom and Munch seem happy and have several adopted children, but they are in actuality far from happy. Even Grace, the most balanced of their visits, is going through some relationship concerns. It is through these problematic relationships that our protagonists question the pitfalls of life and love, and try to figure out what they want to do.
One of the greater successes of the script is in the characterizations. It would be easy to characterize Verona and Burt as 30's hipsters and losers. They're unwed, they're having a child and they don't know where they want to live, so they decide to travel around the country and test some places out. However, these two aren't irresponsible losers, despite Verona's stated belief that they are screw-ups. They're both gainfully employed and they're trying to take action with their lives and find the right place for them and their child. They're not married, but that's for reasons entirely Verona's. They clearly care about each other and when one starts to lose it, the other is there to reassure them. The writing of these two characters is superb, the relationship sweet and endearing, and it's very difficult not to love them. Even the eccentric couples they meet are not just one-dimensional for the most part. Sure, Lily and Lowell aren't much more than nuts, but even LN and her partner have something deeper to them, despite their obvious symbolism of those who take some bizarre school of thought and push it to the extreme. Tom and Munch are the most wonderfully written among the supporting characters, being multi-layered and very real where the others might be considered something more of a group of caricatures.
The other thing that makes these characters so great is the performances. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent; director Sam Mendes is known as an actor's director, and he brings great performances out of everyone here. Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Josh Hamilton , Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels are all quite good and funny in their roles; of the comedic supporting cast though, Maggie Gyllenhall excels. One could consider this character a more off-the-rails version of her bohemian baker in Stranger Than Fiction, but at least that character was grounded somewhat. As LN, she is completely in the clouds, and she has such a lovely smile that manages to be warm and yet so vilely condescending. It has been argued by some critics that Burt and Verona are not sympathetic because they consider themselves superior to the people they meet, but it's hard not to take their side when confronted with LN's amazing levels of arrogance and smugness. As the more serious roles, Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey are top-notch as the friends from Montreal. Lynskey has an ability to convey sadness even under the most ebullient smile, and it's so very hard not to let one's heart go out to her.
Despite all of these solid supporting performances, none of them top the two leads. Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski are best known for their television comedy roles, on Saturday Night Live and The Office respectively. Here they give performances that show how strong their dramatic skills are as well. Rudolph has such a real charm to her, coupled with a reserved sense that unfolds throughout the film that it's easy to just fall in love with her. When it comes to the heavier moments for her character, she delivers effortlessly and comes off with the kind of performance that instantly earns respect. Meanwhile, Krasinski is a bit more of the goofball. There's a funny set of sequences where Verona talks about the fact that they never fight and that the mellow nature of their relationship is contributing to the baby's relatively low heart beat. Burt very gamely takes a few opportunities after that to pick fights and then whip out the portable heart monitor so they can see how it's doing. It's an example of the kinds of things Burt is willing to do for Verona. The chemistry between the two actors is phenomenal and it is an effortless task to believe these two as a couple. Come Oscar time, it would not be very surprising to see one of these names mentioned, and they will certainly be up for nominations when the Spirit Awards are announced.
For many first hearing about this film, the appeal might come in the form of director Sam Mendes. Mendes is a well-loved filmmaker, with instant classics in American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road. Mendes expressed a wish to make something more story-driven, and the result is quite fascinating. He frames scenes with unwavering confidence and never forces the emotion; instead, it comes out in a very real manner. A scene between Grace and Verona that takes place in a tub showroom is not overwrought but clearly gets the point it is trying to across. Mendes takes the independent film sensibilities that appealed to audiences in films like Little Miss Sunshine and Juno and adds his own grounded touch. It's almost a hands-off approach in letting the story unfold; at the same time, there are some great scenes that Mendes does beautifully. One scene in particular resonates, where Munch dances slowly on a stage to a Velvet Underground song while Tom reveals some very relevant details about his relationship with Munch to Burt. It works on a couple different levels, because if you didn't hear what was being explained it would actually be kind of sexy. The truth of the matter is something much sadder and poignant, however. Mendes is able to capture this supremely and with the help of cinematographer Ellen Kuras and composer Alexi Murdoch, he has fashioned something here which feels independent without being just another Smart People.
Film Rating: 8.5
The Video
The video transfer for Away We Go is presented in the theatrical 2.35:1 widescreen ration. This is an independent film and as such not a film that should be expected to push the envelope of visual technology. Still, it is somewhat disappointing to note that Universal has put a lackluster amount of effort into making the film look good. Black levels are a bit off from time to time and colors don't always come through as strongly as they should or display slightly off tints. The image is often somewhat soft, a look I do not believe was director choice but transfer flaw based on the context of the movie. There are no compression flaws to speak of, grain or print problems, but even without those this is a video transfer that should have been much better.
Video Rating: 5.5
The Audio
Much like the video specs, the audio track is not one that should be expected to test the limits of any surround systems. However, unlike the video track it is up to the technical snuff. Presented in a 5.1 Dolby Surround mix, most of the surround is reserved for the soundtrack while dialogue comes mostly through the center tracks. This works well enough, and the different aspects of the sound are leveled nicely to avoid any problems hearing dialogue or sound effects. There are English, French and Spanish tracks, and the same options for subtitles.
Audio Rating: 7.0
The Packaging
Universal has presented Away We Go in a standard snap case. The cover virtually screams "independent darling," being the movie poster with Krasinski and Rudolph surrounded by hand-drawn graphics. The disc itself is a generic mirrored surface with orange lettering to match the title on the cover and proclaiming it part of Focus's "Four Star Collection." The menus are still images set to the score, and are very simply to navigate.
Packaging Rating: 6.5
Special Features
Feature Commentary with Director Sam Mendes and Writers Dave Eggers and Vandela Vida: The audio commentary features only Mendes, Eggers and Vida together as they talk about the film. The three of them clearly love the movie that they made and they talk about it with that love. It gets a bit dry at times—Mendes is a fascinating film director but he tends to lack just a wee bit when doing commentary—but we get a lot of great anecdotes and observations about the film. They talk about the casting and the filming of certain scenes, who wrote what part of the original script, and the usual thoughts on performances, filming locations and what not. It's not the greatest commentary seen recently but it is imminently listenable and informative for those interested in finding more about this great little film.
The Making of Away We Go: (16:13) This making of featurette is mostly pretty standard electronic press kit stuff, and features interviews with the cast and crew about the making of the movie. After a few brief introductory comments from Rudolph, Krasinski and Mendes, we go into a deeper discussion from Mendes about what the film is to him and how he was drawn in by the opportunity to do a smaller, writer-driven piece. Rudolph and Krasinski talk about their appreciation for the script and dialogue, and then they talk about the casting of the picture. It gets into a bit of mutual appreciation there as the actors talk about what they see in their characters and about each other. Mendes talks about choosing working with a new crew so he would not be comfortable and stuck in old habits and how he was satisfied with the results. The location scouting is touched upon in some detail and how they had to select places that were visually very different for the various spots in the journey. They talk about the supporting roles some, focusing on Maggie Gyllenhall and Josh Hamilton and then moving to how Mendes works with his actors. While it does seem pretty mundane, you do get some good information about Mendes's process, which is very nice.
Green Filmmaking: (6:38) This piece is about the movie's dedication to being as environmentally-friendly as possible, and starts with executive producer Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda, Josh Hamilton and director of photography Ellen Kuras talking about how they noticed how unfriendly the film industry is to being environmentally conscious and how it always bothered them. Winker-Ioffreda talks about how she determined to make the entire production green, and then it goes into the different processes that had to go into place to do that. The challenges of doing so, especially with the amount of travelling they did for the film, are discussed. They go into the green aspects of the set construction, all the way down to the catering. It does seem like a bit of a self-pat on the back for being so green, but it's still quite laudable that the crew took these kinds of steps that most films don't.
Special Features Rating: 7.0
The 411: Sam Mendes always puts together great films, and Away We Go is no different. Featuring a great script and revelatory performances from John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, the film asks some significant questions about love, parenting and life without ever seeming too self-important or heavy. Unfortunately a great movie is married by a subpar video transfer and the special features are merely good as opposed to great, but those don't take this film down from a movie that is well worth checking out for those seeking a good story about where we fit in the world.
