Review of Away We Go (2009) by Colson V — 15 May 2010

Here's the deal with Away We Go, the first hour of this movie is quirky, heartwarming, funny and an all around great movie. It's a quirky film filled with humor and heart. The cast does a fantastic job, and director Sam Mendes does a terrific job at directing his actors. It's a compelling character piece that emotionally attaches to it's audience by showing the bad side of marriage and the poor advice that a happy and innocent couple might recieve. It's a brilliant and lovable experience that will melt the coldest of souls.

Then Maggie Gyllenhaal shows up.

Nothing against Maggie Gyllenhaal but her role in this movie brings this film to a screeching hault. Her role is played for awkward laughs (that is until she becomes a villian) that don't work and her entire role is both boring and tedious. The 15 minutes of her involvement in the movie ruined the film. What's worse is that after her screentime is up, I was taken out of the movie until the final 15 minutes. It took the conversation between John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph on the trampoline to bring me back to the light and heartwarming experience I had before Gyllenhaal's dreadful character showed up.

Away We Go is this year's Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. It's heartwarming, humorous, well acted and fun. If you're looking for a night in with the wife or the girlfriend, check this one out. Just feel free to skip the parts where Maggie Gyllenhaal has screentime.