On our journey through life we are confronted with questions at every turn: What am I going to do for a career? Who do I love? Am I happy? And when we come to a crossroads, the most important question of all that we secretly whisper in our hearts at moments of indecision, doubt, and confusion is: Am I a fuck-up?
This is the question that Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) are currently grappling with when Verona’s unexpected pregnancy forces them to re-examine their lives. They try to see the paths they have taken and how their unrealized hopes and dreams have impacted their current situation. Feeling rootless and eager to find a permanent place to call home, Burt and Verona set out on a cross-country odyssey to visit friends and relatives who in their minds “have it together” and see if they can find a suitable city in which to raise their child.
Burt and Verona’s travels take them as near as Burt’s parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara) who to their dismay, refuse to be anchored down to their impending role as grandparents, and as widespread as Arizona, Wisconsin, and Canada as they search for a place to call their own.
Their friends and relatives along the way are all too eager to offer their own brands of advice. Particular standouts on their journey include LN (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her partner Roderick (Josh Hamilton) whose New Age parenting skills provide for moments of hilarity when Burt and Verona unwittingly violate their strict “S” code (No stress, No sugar and no separation).
Burt and Verona also experience a particularly poignant reunion with old college friends (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey) whose idealized perfect life may just have some hidden fissures at its roots. Slowly Burt and Verona realize their friends are as fucked up as they are and more importantly that all of the answers they are searching from without from others may just be found within themselves.
Away We Go balances between humor and genuine emotion. Burt and Verona are real characters, flawed and vulnerable. Their quest resonates deeply in a world where social and economic times make building a home and establishing a sense of belonging all the more unattainable. Both John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph’s performances span this complex range of emotions and make this message even more meaningful.
“Home is any four walls that enclose the right person.” I have this quote on my refrigerator and I do not know whom to attribute this gem. However, I am certain that home and heart are intertwined and finding the right people along the journey gives us something far beyond bricks and mortar. Home sweet home makes us achingly and amazingly whole.