Away We Go feels like Garden State on a road trip. It has the same trying to grow up, figuring out yourself, finding out where you belong emotional journey along with some very strange characters. Except this time instead of traveling within New Jersey, you are traveling across the entire North America with the couple Burt and Verona.

With an SNL alum who are used to all kind of outrageous characters as the lead, you would think Maya Rudolph would carries all the jokes in the movie. To my surprise she played a low key character that is more along the line of Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction or Jim Carrey in Eterntal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. It is quite refreshing and she gave a strong performance. John Krasinski grew a beard, but essentially you can still recognize the quirky and fun Jim in the Office here. Not that it’s a bad thing, he is perfect for this role. The comedy in the movie comes from the strange family and friends that they encounter in their road trip to find a place to settle down. It comes from the crazy fun and loud Alison Janney and the hippie new age Maggie Gyllenhaal, the crazy parents Catherine O’Hara and Jeff Daniels and oh, from a random kid that was in the lobby of a hotel!

In other times, the movie settle into a more emotional mode, with Burt’s brother and college friend’s family both goes into despairs. The scene in the night club was quite heartbreaking. Along with the amazingly haunting soundtrack along the likes of Joshua Radin, except this time is another singer-songwriter named Alexi Murdoch, this movie definitely delivers emotional moments very similiar to Garden State. Away We Go is one of those film that makes you falls in love with indie films with no big action or drama, just simple life’s moments.

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Tagged: John Krasinski · Maya Rudolph · Movies