Twee road movie follows couple on the verge of parenthood.
During a breather from piecing together the marital meltdown of Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes made this small-scaled indie starring The Office nice guy John Krasinki and Maya Rudolph as a child-expecting 30-something couple who take to the road to find themselves. On their trip, they check in on some old friends, each whom unsubtly, typify their fears of parenthood, including a loud-mouthed mom (Allison Janney) with a withdrawn family and a new age kook (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who doesn’t like strollers. Written by Pulitzer Prize-finalist Dave Eggers and wife Vendela Vida, Away We Go is self-consciously twee from the get-go. From the wistful folksy soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch, which spells out everything we’re meant to feel, to the laboured autumnal/thrift store/retro-preciousness of the art direction, it’s episodic gen-Y navel-gazing at its most yawnsome. Krasinki and Rudolph deliver sincere performances; too bad they’re at the service of characters who rarely feel like real people.