7/10

“Away We Go” is nothing we all haven’t seen before.

It’s a coming-of-age story for thirty somethings whose dreams of self-fulfillment faded after college. It’s an indie darling filled with quirky, purposely eccentric supporting characters to make the two leads seem less like screw-ups. Most important, it’s a sweetly somber road trip movie where love is billed to be the only real constant in our lives.

It’s just like every other buzz worthy art house flick, it even got a limited release! How cool! Yet the dynamic pairing of John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph from the very first, very intimate scene all the way to the emotional, open-ended ending allow for the actors to literally disappear into their self-deprecating characters.

The duo play Burt and Verona he’s 33, she’s 34 and pregnant with his child. They met in college, seemingly were exposed to Tom Waits songs or the works of Herman Hesse and now are now in a permanent state of mediocre consistency. With the baby due in three months, the couple set out on a road trip, revisiting familiar faces of the past, hoping to make some sense of their lives.
Krasinski and Rudolph are surprisingly perfect for each other in this film. They both know comic terrain well with stints on “The Office” and “Saturday Night Live” respectively, and some of that goofiness comes out in the film. But when the two are together, embracing each other on a trampoline or faux-fighting to check the baby’s heart rate, you forget the twosome’s resume and instead treat them as two, highly credible actors.

Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jim Gaffigan turn up for glorified, although important cameos, but they all seem forced and contrived. The character’s ALL have highly noticeable eccentricities that need to be clinically diagnosed.

“Away We Go” has heart and sincerity and everything else you could want in one of these genre films. Rudolph, Krasinski and the minimalist application of “American Beauty” director Sam Mendes provides a fast-moving, truly enjoyable film that immerses you in this specific period of uncertainty in this couple’s life.

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