Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) are a thirty-something, deeply-in-love unmarried couple expecting their first child but, lacking stable careers and roots, they still feel like children themselves. Burt and Verona take to the road, ostensibly to find a place to raise their child. But the real journey involves visiting friends and family while they try to decide what kind of parents they want to be. In this movie that has both comic and serious moments, the individual moments are better than the whole film.

Screenwriters (and husband and wife) Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida have created characters who reflect a present-day reality; they are in their thirties but act like they are in their twenties. They are intelligent and confused underachievers, but they like who they are and are afraid of losing what they have. In a scene in the beginning of the film, Burt and Verona stand expressionless on a moving walkway. Burt asks about their first stop and Verona tells him that she stapled their itinerary to his jacket. He opens his jacket and there it is stapled. He does not react. This foreshadows the rest of the film. Burt and Verona are travelling, but they are not moving, so it is difficult to root for them. For most of the film they do not take action; they only react to the people they encounter. And the people they encounter are more interesting and charismatic than Burt and Verona.  

The first and funnier half of the film could be called “weird parents who are everything we do not want to be” and features a group of strong and entertaining comedy performances. The first set of weird parents is Burt’s own flamboyant parents, Jerry (Jeff Daniels) and Gloria (Catherine O’Hara). Jerry collects fertility statues and begins dinner with the intonation, “Oh mighty food gatherer.” O’Hara regales the couple with stories of Burt’s birth in a bath tub, complete with hunky firemen assisting. Daniels and O’Hara are expansive and funny. 

The quirkiness of parenting styles and degree of hilarity escalates with each stop. Verona’s former boss, Lily (Allison Janney), discusses her marital problems and her children’s faults with gusto and abandon in front of her children and husband. Janney is laugh-out-loud funny, which may be why she is featured in the advertisements for the film. The next stop (and to me the funniest of these three) is Burt’s childhood friend, LN (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a professor and mother with unusual parenting ideas. Gyllenhaal is hilarious as LN reacts with horror to Burt and Verona’s gift of a stroller, crying, “I love my children. Why would I want to push them away from me?” Like the other couples, LN and her husband are sure of their choices and try to show Burt and Verona the error of their ways.

The second part of their journey could be called “good parents in bad situations.” Friends Tom (Chris Messina) and Munch (Melanie Lynskey) seem to have a happy and loving family with several lively adopted children. They are relaxed and fun, as they play with their children and show Burt and Verona the hot spots in Montreal. Burt and Verona are ready to move to Montreal and emulate Tom and Munch when the scenes take a sudden heartbreaking turn. I was more interested in this family than the leads.

An emergency call from Burt’s brother, whose wife has left him and their young daughter, leads the couple to their last visit. Burt and Verona are left to wonder why people who seem to do everything right as parents, like Burt’s brother and Tom and Munch, are forced to endure pain. How can they guard against bad things happening to their unborn child? They realize that all they can do is try, and the film gives them a somewhat hopeful ending. But I cared more about all of the people they visited. I would be more interested in seeing their efforts.

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph give understated performances in their atypical roles as an average-looking and not very dynamic couple. They have a bit of a thankless job as straight men for the quirky people they visit, all more interesting than they. Perhaps that is why the whole trip was less interesting than any of its stops.

Away We Go. Directed by Sam Mendes. With John Krasinski (Burt Farlander), Maya Rudolph (Verona De Tessant), Catherine O’Hara (Gloria Farlander), Jeff Daniels (Jerry Farlander), Allison Janney (Lily), Maggie Gyllenhaal (LN), Chris Messina (Tom Garnett) and Melanie Lynskey (Munch Garnett). Focus Features, 2009.

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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