Away We Go (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Like all road pictures, AWAY WE GO is about a couple in their early thirties trying to discover themselves (and what kind of home and family they want to create for themselves) through a round of visits in the sixth month of the pregnancy. I've never been a huge fan of Dave Eggers, but the script that he wrote with Vendela Vida is a brilliant one. The structure of the film is simple: Burt (THE OFFICE's Jim Krasinski) and Verona (SNL's Maya Rudolph) have moved to a small, cold house entirely so that they can live near Burt's parents. But after learning that they will be moving to Antwerp a month before their baby is due, they realize that they don't need to live any longer in a town where they have no friends and, now, no relatives. They plan a long trip that will see them visiting friends and relatives in a number of locations, including Scottsdale, Tucson, Montreal, and Miami. They see people whose lives they would like to emulate and those they would not.
And along the way hilarity ensues. The scenes between Burt and Verona are frequently hysterical, though when they are meeting their friends or relatives they tend to become "straight men" and the humor shifts over to the others. Although several people are absolutely outstanding, two actors deserve special mention. First, Allison Janney is absolutely hysterical as Verona's former boss in Chicago (more about Chicago in a second). She is, putting it simply, a nightmare of a mother. But in the most hysterical of ways. (Now on Chicago. Verona mentions working in Chicago and she is shown to be a medical illustrator. This is not unconnected with Chicago; in fact, there is a direct correlation between medical illustration and Chicago, since the most important medical illustration program is at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School. Odds are that if someone has studied medical illustration, they did it there.) The second actor who stands out is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays a college professor and old friend of Burt who and the embracer of more fringe and nutzoid ideas than one can imagine. Her ideas, and those of her husband, are so absurd that given gentle, placid Burt can take no more.
But the major kudos have to go to Krasinski and Rudolph, who manage to create two characters we come to like a great deal and who we very much hope will come to understand precisely what they and where they want to have it. This is an especially enjoyable film given the overwhelming amount of special effects fare at this time of the year. This is an intelligent film that also manages to be very, very funny. It is currently in somewhat limited release, but when you get a chance to see it, do so.

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John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) star in the heartfelt film that explores the comedic twists and turns in one couple’s journey across contemporary America. Anticipating the birth of their first child, longtime couple Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) embark on an ambitious itinerary to visit friends and family in order to find their perfect home. Featuring a remarkable soundtrack and an incredible ensemble cast – including Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O’Hara and Jim Gaffigan. It’s the hilarious, witty film that critics are hailing as “absolutely extraordinary!" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone)

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Going the Distance (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)It seems like it has been awhile since Justin Long actually looked interested in acting. In several recent movies (notably HE'S JUST NOT THAT IN TO YOU), he has seemed bored and a little sickly. His trademark witty attitude has been strictly by-the-book. But finally, with GOING THE DISTANCE, he seems engaged again. Perhaps it's because he's been given a true leading role, or perhaps it's working with the always perky and energetic Drew Barrymore (who actually seems subdued here).
Long's character is a bit of a womanizer. He drifts from one monogamous relationship to another, blithely clueless at what a lousy boyfriend he is (even though best friends Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day constantly tell him EXACTLY why he is a lousy boyfriend). But one evening, literally hours after his latest breakup, he meets Barrymore over a game of Centipede, and sparks fly. They embark on a relationship, and Barrymore tells Long right from the start that she's moving back to San Francisco (from New York) in six weeks to finish her schooling. She's been interning at an NYC paper, but there are no jobs. So they agree to just enjoy themselves for the time they have together...but things get more serious, and when the time to depart comes, they cling to each other and promise to try to make their long distance relationship work.
What follows are montages of text, phoning & Skyping misadventures, sticker shock over coast-to-coast airline costs (nicely realistic) and the occasional visit. Long travels to California to visit Barrymore, who is living with her sister (uptight Christina Applegate) and brother-in-law (nicely played by Jim Gaffigan).
What I liked about the film was that you could feel the strain on the relationship. The weariness of remaining committed to a person you never see (and really don't even know all that well). The lonely drinking. The inconveniences of a 3 hour time zone difference. Barrymore and Long feel like young adults (early 30s) instead of teenagers resisting the transition to adulthood. The movie has a grown-up gloss to it. It is also R-rated, instead of the usual PG-13 reserved for a film like this...and this gives it the freedom to let the script tread some decidedly raunchy territory (although to mixed results).
But for everything fresh in the movie, something else feels tired. Sudeikis and Day (as co-worker and roommate to Long, respectively) bring little new to the stale "best friends" characters. It's always two guys who never have girlfriends of their own because they have cruder, baser ideals than our "hero." I guess these characters exist to spout outrageous sexual lines and to generally make the lead male look less awful by comparison. In GOING THE DISTANCE, we get to hear the real, ridiculous reason Sudeikis has grown a bushy mustache and we get to enjoy discovering that Day likes to leave the door wide open when he uses the restroom. Terrific.
Barrymore doesn't seem to have close friends, so she shares with her older, disapproving and protective sister. Applegate is a good actress, so the two ladies are convincing together, but the dialogue doesn't cover any new ground.
And I'm going to devote a paragraph just to chew the filmmakers out for casting Rob Riggle. I've written about this supremely unfunny "actor" before. He gets only one scene in this film, but he's as dreadful as ever. Just remember his turn as a cop in THE HANGOVER...his ability to bring that tight, raunchy, hilarious movie to a screeching halt with his tazering of Zach Galifinaikis is a testament to his dubious skills...if anyone can mismatch his tone to that of the movie around him, it's Rob Riggle.
GOING THE DISTANCE just mostly coasts along. It's not actively horrible, has some nice moments and Barrymore and Long do generate some real chemistry. Sometimes it feels fresh, and at others, terribly predictable. It's not a very "feel good" romance, because the two leads grapple with believable issues. So in the end, GOING THE DISTANCE never quite manages to go the distance...it's always 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. It was an okay time at the movies, but quite forgettable too.

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Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) strike sparks for a summer fling in New York City but neither expects it to last once Erin heads home to San Francisco and Garrett remains behind for his Big Apple job. But after six increasingly romantic weeks, neither is sure they want it to end. So despite the opposing coasts, naysaying friends and family and a few unexpected temptations, the couple just might have found something like love. And helped by a lot of texting and late-night phone calls, they might actually go the distance.

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