'Away We Go' review

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph (Credit: François Duhamel/Focus)

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With a baby on the way and no ties to any particular place, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) travel to the various places their friends and family live in an attempt to find somewhere to plant themselves. These anxious parents-to-be soon learn everyone and everywhere else, from Phoenix to Miami to Montreal, is even more messed up than they are. Who would have thought?

The buzz: Nice to see director Sam Mendes (“Revolutionary Road,” “American Beauty”) express something other than contempt for the suburbs. Can these two talented comedians anchor an inherently vulnerable story—we’re on our own; what should we do, and where should we do it?—co-written by novelist Dave Eggers?

The verdict: A drama trying too hard to be a comedy, “Away We Go” wastes time with shenanigans like Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton as two hippie-dippie free-thinkers too stubborn to see the damage they’re doing to their kid. Actually, the movie's focus on supporting goofballs (like Allison Janney’s over-the-top devil-mom) means Burt and Verona often aren’t active participants in the action, which grows repetitive as the couple travels around, observe behavior they don’t like or understand and move on. What lingers is Krasinski’s commitment to a belief that life is meant to be fun, and Rudolph’s nervous awareness that the choices parents make do, in fact, matter.

Did you know? One of the pair’s acquaintances (Jim Gaffigan) refers to an Arizona drought as “a biblical flood in reverse.” Your call whether or not that’s a good thing.

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