REVIEW: Away We Go

In 2008, Revolutionary Road asserted my belief that marriage is pointless, that it doesn't make a relationship work. That it's nothing but legality bullcrap. With Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes helmed one of the most depressing movie I've ever seen in my entire life.

Sam Mendes is an expert in telling stories about dysfunctional families and relationship idiosyncrasies. After all, his first attempt behind the camera made him an Oscar winner - American Beauty was the epitome of beautiful dysfunction. 

After Revolutionary Road, Mendes' next project was Away We Go - while the former had everything big, the latter had everything in bare minimum. RR had the biggest super stars in Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet while Away We Go had solid actors in John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Where RR is heavy and depressing, Away We Go is light and hopeful. All in all, Away We Go is the polar opposite of Revolutionary Road. 

With

 his fifth film, Sam Mendes has found his niche as a director. The movie seems so relax and real - a movie that was done without any pressure. 

From

 writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, Away We Go is about a thirty-something couple who travelled across the country in order to find a place to settle in, have a baby and live as a family. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph played the couple and were beautifully supported by Jeff Bridges, Catherine O' Hara, Allison Janney and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The photography is magnificent and so as the soundtrack, courtesy of Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Alex Murdoch.

While the two leads performed their roles exceptionally as individual actors (John Krasinski is the sweetest leading man on screen ever), them as a couple was another story. In real life, Maya is much older than John but in the movie, we learned that they are both the same age. Making John beard-full to make him look older didn't help at all. Every time I see them, I feel like I'm looking at a high school teacher who eloped with her student. Mind you, I love both actors but, again, them as a couple, as lovers, is not convincing.

Unlike Sam's previous films, this couple is happily un-married. What made this movie more special for me is the message that it takes two people to make a life together, to make a family together - regardless of being married or not.

The trampoline scene, wherein we see the couple saying their promises to each other, is more romantic than any wedding scenes we see in romantic comedies. Away We Go portrayed what I deem a real relationship is like - quirky, loyal, honest and selfless.