Travelin’ Thru

I hate myself a little for saying so, but when I heard that director Sam Mendes had cast John Krasinski (TV’s The Office) and former SNL MVP Maya Rudolph as the stars of Away We Go, I was…skeptical.

Krasinski, whom I heart and find adorable, charming, and irresistible, isn’t quite a movie star (his License to Wed and Leatherheads were received lukewarmly, and that’s putting it nicely). And Rudolph, who has been featured in A Prairie Home Companion, 50 First Dates, and Anchorman, isn’t exactly at the top of any leading lady lists.

But boy, did the two do a phenomenal job in this dear road trip search for the perfect home. Away We Go is their breakthrough.

As insurance salesman Burt and illustrator Verona, two free spirits in their 30s, Krasinski and Rudolph – who is just stunning in this movie (I really do declare she’s in position for the Best Actress race) – embody a generational malaise and a directionless happy-go-lucky attitude that will speak to its audience, trust.

The two are pregnant, and the prospect of being parents is confronting to them. “Are we f---ups?” Verona ask Burt. “No,” he responds (over and over, as if trying to convince himself as much as her).

But they kinda are, although they’re not losers.

After all, they have something going for them: love.

That’s why they decide to up and travel the country in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise their family.

Now that his kooky parents have announced they’re moving to Belgium, a month before the baby’s due, there’s nothing holding them back. So they leave for Arizona, where they meet an old co-worker of hers (Allison Janney) who’s one of over-the-top crazy shrill moms, and her pessimist husband (Jim Gaffigan).

Moving near them is a no, so off Burt and Verona go to Wisconsin to meet his childhood friend Ellen (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a.k.a. LN, a strict New Age feminist who’s just the worst kind of…cartoon.

Living close to her and her “bulls---“ is not an option, either, so Burona go north to Canada to visit with college friends (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey), whose happy façade soon reveals heartbreaking longings of their own.

Next in the itinerary is Miami, an unplanned detour to see Burt’s brother (TV’s Parks and Recreation’s Paul Schneider), whose wife has abandoned her family.

Unable to find a single not f---ed up example of parenting along the way, the expectant couple will have to find what they’re looking for on their own terms for the first time.

Away We Go, written by David Eggers and Vendela Vida, does, too, and it’s a joy to watch. The movie’s funny and serious and hopeful, and best of all, it gives us Rudolph, and for that, I wouldn’t change a single frame of it.

My Rating ****

Photo: Focus Features.