Take It Away
I missed Away We Go, but then so did everyone. A 2009 Sam Mendes film, it wasn't loved by the critics and grossed less than $10 million. After watching it on TV, I realize I didn't miss anything.
We start with an unmarried couple (he wants to get married, she doesn't) expecting a baby. His eccentric parents are moving out of the country, so they decide to travel around America (plus a stop in Montreal) to figure out where to move. Along the way, they meet a lot of friends and family, most with kids. They learn lessons at each stop, of course.
The first problem is neither lead character is especially interesting, nor do they have chemistry. Then all they meet are eccentrics and sad sacks. The story is episodic, but these episodes aren't cumulative--they happen and fall away. We're also treated to long scenes where the couple talk (and talk), and bits of scenery as they travel while dreary acoustic music plays on the soundtrack. (When some Velvet Underground comes on, it's like a drink of water in the desert.)
I don't care about the couple's inner journey, so how about their outer journey? That's even worse. The film is shot in various locations, but I don't think Sam Mendes, or screenwriters Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, are able to communicate anything about this country (or my place of birth, Montreal, for that matter). It's odd--Brit Sam Mendes only seems to make films trying to explain a country he has no feeling for.
We start with an unmarried couple (he wants to get married, she doesn't) expecting a baby. His eccentric parents are moving out of the country, so they decide to travel around America (plus a stop in Montreal) to figure out where to move. Along the way, they meet a lot of friends and family, most with kids. They learn lessons at each stop, of course.
The first problem is neither lead character is especially interesting, nor do they have chemistry. Then all they meet are eccentrics and sad sacks. The story is episodic, but these episodes aren't cumulative--they happen and fall away. We're also treated to long scenes where the couple talk (and talk), and bits of scenery as they travel while dreary acoustic music plays on the soundtrack. (When some Velvet Underground comes on, it's like a drink of water in the desert.)
I don't care about the couple's inner journey, so how about their outer journey? That's even worse. The film is shot in various locations, but I don't think Sam Mendes, or screenwriters Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, are able to communicate anything about this country (or my place of birth, Montreal, for that matter). It's odd--Brit Sam Mendes only seems to make films trying to explain a country he has no feeling for.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:04 AM
1 Comments:
I saw part of this film on HBO and gave up on it pretty quick.
The local news media stories on it were more interesting- John Krasinski is from the Boston area- I thought they were filming the picture in Newton, but maybe the stories were from a publicity tour. He was fairly Jim-like and funny in his interviews. Best part was the online chat where the questioners seemed to think he wasn't really there (that a publicist was just pretending to be him) He got pretty testy and boston.com printed a picture of a visibly annoyed John K typing away in the newsroom.
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