There's nothing better than watching a nice comedy by yourself, and realizing (by the time it's over) that you've been moved, that your heart feels warmer, that life makes more sense, and that your certainty that love and hope exist have just been confirmed. There's nothing better than watching a film and, once it's over, you still have that smile on your face and your spirit is still soaring. Such is the power Sam Mendes' new film "Away We Go" has; it's a simple film, one might even go as far as mistaking it for an independent flick, but it has that spark of ingenuity and that quality to touch viewers profoundly and satisfyingly.
It's about a couple, Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph), who are expecting a baby. They live in a beaten down trailer house, they're 33 and 34 respectively, and they feel like big losers because they still haven't accomplished anything in their lives. They don't seem to be, at first, like remarkable people, but within a few minutes after the film has started, we find ourselves embracing their love for each other, their spirit and their personalities, until we're convinced they just might be the most endearing, special couple we've ever seen.
They want to live in a possitive environment for their baby, and since Verona's parents are dead, and they want the baby to have relatives (other than themselves, of course), they live close to Burt's parents. His dad (Jeff Daniels) loves to use cheerful adjectives and is a phony; his mom (Catherine O'Hara) is a uninhibited invader of personal space and almost uncomfortably cheerful. We learn they are planning to move away to Europe just one month before the baby is born and (though they never say it) that they couldn't care less about the importance of grandparents. So Burt and Verona decide that they want to move somewhere where the baby will grow up in a nice environment, and where they have friends or acquaintances that will help them through it.
We follow our heroes as they make their way through different cities, hooking up with old friends and trying to decide where they will settle down. We follow their often hilarious and usually poignant encounters with a quirky and seriously crazy ensemble of characters, including Verona's ex-boss (Allison Janney) who's hideously bad-mannered and hateful, her sister (Carmen Ejogo) who's charming and has commitment issues, Burt's cousin (Maggie Gyllenhaal) a weird character with seriously disturbing beliefs, his brother (Paul Schneider) who's trying to raise a daughter all by himself, and many others.
The dialogue is beyond amazing. It is a perfect example of wit, intelligence and outrageous comedy that will have you alternately roaring with laughter and sobbing with emotion. Through each scene, we come to know our main couple more closely; their anxieties, insecurities, troubles, issues, but above all, their deep and exemplary love for each other. All of the characters are perfectly-casted, and John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are pitch-perfect in their roles. This is an example of what an ideal ensemble cast should be like.
The film is also a master of mood and tone. Some scenes are explicit in their language, others are tenderly moving, others are reflective, others are searingly truthful, but they all shed truth and wisdom on many topics that any viewer at all may relate to. Notice a scene where Verona and her sister are browsing through a bathroom exhibit, or the one where Verona tells of an old family tradition involving an orange tree; those are scenes of infinite wisdom that will stay with the viewer forever, scenes that share life lessons and that uplift. Notice other scenes like when Burt tries to scare Verona, or a heart-breakingly truthful scene where Burt and a friend of his (Chris Messina) are at a dance bar; scenes like these are what make movies masterful and perennial. Even the scenes meant for amusement only, they all shed light on the surviving innocence of true love and how it makes everything else make sense.
The choice of the music is also exemplary. The songs by Alexi Murdoch enhance the feel of every scene, and the overall soundtrack keeps every scene tied together and passes the emotion from one scene to the other, so the comedy, the drama, the romance, etc, never tone done but just keep building up. The cinematography is personal, and involves us with the actions taking place onscreen.
In general, this is a film that speaks for itself. It is a perfect comedy that doesn?t only entertain and makes you laugh, but that also engraves a jolt of pure joy and energy into your heart that burns and keeps you pumped long after it has ended. It also proves that a plot doesn?t necessarily have to be complicated or doesn?t have to have never-ending twists and turns to be engrossing; here, the story is as simple as they come, but it is constructed in such a way that no one can feel unattached to it. I seriously think that this ranks alongside ?American Beauty? as Sam Mendes? ultimate masterpiece. See it at all costs!
Every holiday season, there are a great number of films relevant to the holidays that pretend to pass of as THE movie event of the season; there's the endless battery of romantic comedies on Valentine's day, the Christmas-themed movies on December, the horror films of Halloween, etc. Very (and I mean very) few can even barely pass of as consumerism and a feeble attempt to make the most out of movie-goers' wallets, but every so often comes a film that truly takes into its purpose to transmit and portray the true spirit of the season. Such an example is Michael Dougherty's recent DVD release of "Trick 'r Treat", a Halloween release that's destined to become an absolute cult classic.
The film follows four interwoven tales: a deranged and deeply disturbed school principal (Dylan Baker) who gains pleasure from killing children and making jack-o-lanterns out of their heads with the help of his own child; a twenty-two year old virgin (Anna Paquin) who seeks the perfect Halloween screw for the first time in her life; a geeky young girl (Rochelle Aytes) who joins her school classmates on a terribly naughty prank; and a sick and lonely old man (Brian Cox) who's haunted by an age-old secret. These four tales weave into what I consider to be the ultimate Halloween movie experience, immersing the viewer into the true spirit of the season, and capturing on screen (with an ample gamma of horror-film clichés, all of them aptly used) the fiendish feeling of terror a night of trick-or-treating in a usually quiet town can affect over us.
The interesting point of this film is the fact that it overuses (yes, OVERuses) movie clichés, Halloween lore, ideas and plot twists from other films...and still manages to be refreshing and exorbitantly amusing from beginning to end. From the first scene in the film, even before the main credits start, we experience a feeling of déjà vu, and we prepare ourselves for yet another Halloween-based thriller with little or nothing at all to offer. By the time the movie has ended, you know that you've witnessed something truly special and especially entertaining that, while lacking in the emotional depth and masterful production a remarkable film usually has, manages to transmit the meaning and traditional incentive of the holiday. This is supposed to be a horror film, but it seldom scares you; rather, it opts for showing in a beautiful and artistic way, the feeling Halloween transmits. I consider it to be a seriously accurate and socio-culturally acute representation of everything Halloween means, and even though it's a film meant for adult audiences, it appeals to the mind and sensitivities of all ages and all cultures that accept and promote Halloween.
The fact that it holds no surprises and that it often fails to scare doesn't take credit away from it. You'll notice, scene after scene, how meticulously every detail has been constructed, how the production design, the costumes, and the wonderful score (composed by Douglas Pipes, who seems to have been born to score films of this genre) all aid to the mood and the tone, how it involves us and keeps us interested even when we know what's going to happen. The clichés and overused scare material are not the film's flaws, but its style; it compiles scare material from previous films and from common Halloween experiences to provide a thoroughly entertaining experience that, as I've said before, will become a holiday classic that families world-wide will share and marvel at.
I'm aghast at the fact that this film has been shelved for over a year and has been finally released on DVD only. I can't understand how the Warner Bros. executives could deem the film to be unimpressive, when it has so much to offer. In a time when horror thrillers have become as monotonous and boring as they come, this film freshens-up the genre and proposes new ideas and points of view on already existing ones. There is no originality of plot, directing or production, but there is something greater: the promise of an accurate, empathic and entertaining portrayal of an entire culture, society and tradition. A film doesn't become memorable because of how good its technical elements are, but from what we learn and experience from it. This film promises and delivers nothing but the above.
Don't get me wrong; this isn't the best film of the year, it isn't even the best horror feature I've seen. But it is an enlightening, charming and highly recommendable video experience. Put it at the top of your list of Halloween screenings.
Away We Go
R
Trick 'r Treat
R
