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Tai-Pan
Feb 10, 2001
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph


A young couple pregnant with their first child travel across North America in order to visit friends and find a new home to start their family. Their quest begins after finding out that that their parents will no longer be present to help them raise the child. As they travel they see their friends living on the extremes of family life, none of which represent the perfect life they are looking for. Their search ends as they come to understand the meaning of "home".

Sam Mendes, Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, etc etc. A great director, a great cast and, in my opinion, a terrible mess of a movie that is so full of itself that it gags on its own specialness. Sam Mendes tries to take us on a sensitive journey that does nothing more than plod on endlessly with tedious shots, acting that is hollow, and an emotional plot that leaves the audience indifferent to the plight of all of the characters. Save for Maggie Gyllenhaal's character, the jokes fell flat and felt absolutely forced.

I know that this will not be a popular review, as this is the kind of movie that will be lauded for its "quiet power and emotional deftness", but I found myself looking at my watch constantly and lamenting the total waste of a talented cast.
I recommend everyone skip this one.

2/5

Tai-Pan fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Jun 10, 2009

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IntrepidInventive
Nov 28, 2008

Ah shouldn't give advahce in E\N, Jennay
^Jeff Bridges is not in this movie, you're thinking of Jeff Daniels. Just a quick note for all the people who like Jeff Bridges and might be hoping he's in it.

I saw this movie last night and I thought it was fantastic. I was kinda worried going in because a lot of the reviews I've read have said that it's quirky for the sake of quirk. As it turns out, the movie isn't reall quirky at all. Unfortunately, with crap like Juno(which did have a decent script mired in forced indy wankery), any sort of clever or witty dialogue is seen as pretentious or purposely quirky. You want to see a movie full of pretension and forced quirkiness, go see The Brothers Bloom. After sitting through that, you'd never make that claim about Away We Go.

I thought the acting was great all around. A lot of the characters were caricatures, but there was also a lot of really subtle character building that you might not appreciate unless you've studied writing to some degree. It was obvious that the script was written by two people who mostly work doing print fiction and the movie felt fresh because of it. That being said it's not a very visually interesting film because all of the focus is on characters and their words. The movie is essentially groups of people sitting around and talking for 90 minutes or however long it is. If seeing an expression on an actor's face alone cannot make you burst into laughter, then you'll probably be bored to death by Away We Go. If, however, you appreciate clever dialogue and really subtle acting, then you'll probably love it as much as I did.

I do have a couple criticisms, though. First is Maya Rudolph. I like her, but there were a couple of times in the movie where it seemed like she was supposed to soften up and she really never did. She comes off as a stand-offish bitch through most of the movie. It could be argued that this is her character, but there's very little change from scene to scene. Second is I never really understood their relationship. They seemed like complete polar opposites and there never really felt like there was any reason for them to be together at all. Despite this, though, I inexplicably believed they were in love, and I really can't say why. Maybe it's because I've seen couples just as strange in real life.

This may be a really lovely year for big budget movies, but I think it's been a great year for more offbeat, character driven films. I hope this trend continues.

5/5

Zombie Layne
Aug 16, 2008

by Ozma
Away we go stars veteran tv actors John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live)as a content but also emotionally insecure 30 something couple trying to start a new life after finding out they are pregnant.

Most of Sam Mendes' previous films have been about exploring various themes regarding family bonds. In American Beauty a man was estranged with his family, Road to perdition was about a man trying to keep his family together, Revolutionary Road was about a dysfunctional couple trying to deal with their incompatibility. Away We Go doesn't deviate from Mendes' preoccupation with family with the main emotional theme revolving around a couple's insecurity and sense of belonging. This movie has a much more optimistic tone than Mendes' previous films but the flaws are also much greater as there just doesn't seem to be enough emotional weight for a viewer to maintain interest.

The primary flaws are that we get writing and characters that would have certainly been interesting in a long character heavy tv drama like Six Feet Under but falls short in a feature film. In fact we have all seen the mostly white middle class suburban character archetypes before. The film is also full of rather quirky predictable indie dialogue poking fun at new ageism, insecurity, pregnancy, sex, etc.. with the usual jokes that makes it seem like a rehash of cable tv comedy/drama writing.

An example of this is when the main characters Burt & Verona have dinner with a new age couple who turn out to be judgmental and hypocritical people who breastfeed their 4+ year old kid and refuses to push him in a stroller. A comedic confrontation arises when Burt calls them out on their abrasive condescending behavior. Now repeat this several times over with Burt & Verona encountering various other dysfunctional couples in their journey as they deal with their own insecurity with the predictable emotional payoff each time. That's Away We Go in a nutshell.

This film often seems more like a film school exercise rather than an effort to create something original or compelling. All this gives a viewer a sense of familiarity with the characters and situations as we've probably seen it all before. Unfortunately this familiarity can breed a degree of contempt or in my case boredom. This is probably Mendes' weakest film to date but i'm sure a talented director like him has plenty to offer in the future. This is an alright film to watch with your significant other but it could be a chore to sit through with so many other entertaining alternatives.

2/5

Zombie Layne fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Oct 13, 2009

ChesterJT
Dec 28, 2003

Mounty Pumper's Flying Circus
People who would call anything about this movie pretentious need to look up the word in the dictionary. And in some cases actually watch the movie because some things are just flat out incorrect.

The couple themselves are pretty average. They go to a series of towns which have family/friends to find a place to settle down in and raise their child to be. Each family they see are different in their own ways. The only time they really have anything negative to say about a couple is when they give the new age couple an earful, which honestly was easy to see given that their first scene is the mom breastfeeding a toddler. They were called nutcases and rightfully so. I doubt many people would have been able to hold out as long as they did. I also thought the couple with the adopted kids were great, and was a great part of the story.

I thought Maya's character was great and she was given plenty of backstory to justify her feelings about certain things, especially marriage. John's character was less fleshed out, but honestly since he's sort of an everyman (albeit quirky) much isn't really needed. I think the dinner scene with his parents pretty much tells you all you need to know.

It's certainly not another American Beauty for sure, but it's really enjoyable and worth a watch.

4/5

Corn Thongs
Feb 13, 2004

I think the "quirky for the sake of being quirky" opinion comes from the wide ranging variety of supporting cast. The thing is, you'll find those quirky people out there in the real world and the main couple is just as baffled or confused by them as we would be. No matter how crazy some of the supporting cast are, the couple handles them realistically and in a very likable way. Loved it.

5/5

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