Away We Go

For the last ten years, the adjective “quirky” has become over used in film criticism, but that’s only because it’s been a trait over used in low budget American film. But with the complacent Bush era over and the new, hardworking Obama age upon us, Away We Go could prove to the last hurrah for quirkiness. Director Mendes describes this as the positive flipside to his gruelling Revolutionary Road, as it follows another couple (Krasinski and Rudolph) forced to compromise for the wider concerns of family. Their home-seeking road trip will take them across America and bring them into contact with a whole host of (here we go) quirky characters, each more annoying than the previous, and not always intentionally. This wilfully eccentric first hour or so tests the patience, but a third-act turn for the serious takes the film to a new level. Once Mendes can explore the bigger ideas, his unromantic but sanguine philosophy proves truly life affirming.