Strollers have ruined the world in Away We Go.

Away we go stars John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday night live) as a thirty-something couple that are pregnant (yes, “they” are pregnant) and are searching for a new home. They set off 6 months into her term to visit old friends and family members in Phoenix, Madison, Montreal, and Miami in an effort to find a place that’s right for them and their new baby.

Right off the bat this movie had it’s issues and 15 minutes in I was starting to check out…. not a good way to start things off. The constant guitar and voice of Alexi Murdoch gets painfully annoying. Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) seems to think you don’t know what this movie is about and he has to tell you through music over and over again. Then there is the dialog (“are we fuck ups”? “We’re fuck up’s!”) being shoved down your throat; the themes and emotion and the importance of this journey they are about to take. I get it. Then we get all of the trailer scenes. Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?

But just as my thoughts were trailing off a funny thing happened…I laughed. Then, all of the sudden, I laughed again. I become interested in what was going to happen next. The movie started to build some momentum and do away with the sobbing guitar strings. I was kind of hooked (took long enough). Phoenix, Madison, and most of Montreal really have some great moments.

After some soul searching and a couple of necessary (but totally unnecessary) monologues we reached our ending, which like the beginning was a little over the top with emotion and guitars and everyone telling you how to feel. Whenever I see a movie like this I can’t help but wonder what could have been. Mendes put a little too much trust in what was probably an easy and enjoyable screenplay to read when he should have let the camera do a little more work. If you liked Garden State (Zach Braff, 2004…which is a MUCH, MUCH, better movie) you might like Away we go. A somewhat unique “road trip movie”, I think this would be a good warm up for someone who wants to understand the structure of stories in films a little bit better without getting confused or having to think about your feelings.

My Vote: A good DVD for a night on the couch with your steady…yes, I just said steady.