Review: Away We Go

I think Goatboys rant has somewhat seeped into my brain and taken over because I just could not get on with this film until the latter parts. This couple just increasingly annoyed me with their naive, judgemental and eccentric/funny behaviour.
What really annoyed me was the "Are we fuckups?" talk which consisted of that question, the reply "No" and was then repeated about 4 or 5 times. Look, if you're 34 (or 33), you're both employed, you're 6 months pregnant and you're living in a crapshack and seemingly haven't planned shit, then yeah, you're fuckups. From that moment on, the judgemental attitude towards every other couple really pissed me off.

I think your tolerance for this couple really depends on where you're at in your life. If you're young, carefree and you've not really thought about your life with any kind of reality, then yeah you could probably like these two.
On the other hand, if you're old enough to be firmly stuck in reality or if you've had kids then this kind of naivete is akin to watching a documentary about teen parents espousing their "All u need iz luv" attitude to raising kids, which is fucking annoying to anyone who knows better.

For what it's worth, the film does improve towards and the end as they actually grow up and encounter a couple who are grounded in a harsh reality. That scene in Montreal being the only one with gravitas that's not ruined by someone trying to be funny (trampoline scene, I'm looking at you).
Overall there's just a complete lack of urgency or tension and the comedy feels misplaced for a couple that are actually pretty fucked at the start of the film. You kind of wonder the hell they've been doing in the previous 6 months. Overall, nothing really rings true which is the bare requirement for any indie film.

I quite enjoyed this. Very low-key, nothing big or showy about it, just a nice intimate story about a couple you like and want to see win one. And none of the jackets made me angry.

Just watched this and really enjoyed it, the man *looking* like a wanker and all (He's not *actually* a wanker)

Raised quite a few thoughts that I've had myself regarding the subject, and the Indy quirk-o-meter is turned down real low.

Loved the ending, very close to home (no pun intended)

How did this get onto him looking gay? I don't think I ever said that - just suggested the site was turning a bit limp-wristed. Have you seen the new colour scheme? It doesn't need any help.

Anyway, no I haven't seen this, but there's literally nothing that makes me want to either.

CANNONBALL RUN 2 IS ON CHANNEL 5 RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

Sorry but it merited caps lock.
CANNONBALL RUN 2!!!!!!!!!!!
2 hot chicks in a Lambourghini, best way to start a movie ever.

Krasinski?
I've not seen the film, nor will I ever. And it's my god-given right as an internet user to cast aspersions willy-nilly using only completely ill-informed opinions based on little more than what I imagine a film to be.

But come on, the beard & glasses & coat & fake-indie feeling of this movie all add up to one thing:
That man is a wanker.
And I therefore extrapolate that the film is sub-standard and beneath me.
Look, logic plays no part in my life. I can barely tie my own shoelaces without arguing with myself about Converse shoes being the domain of shitwits.

Just...just look at that picture...

While I'm very much enjoying your musings on the twatty modern man, I'm afraid you've got Krasinski's character all wrong. He sells insurance for god's sake. Have any of you actually seen the film?! The beard is a bit iffy, granted. And the glasses? Maybe he's just short-sighted.

There's nothing gay about numbnuts above. He's just a wanker.

Requiem For A Dream, I don't ever want to see that film again, or anything even close that unpleasant.

Edited at 11:27 on 20/09/09

Thank God you didn't make fun of the amount of flouncy exclamation marks in my post.

See! I'm not mental, people know *exactly* the sort of person in the image above.
It's not that the guy looks "gay", but it's the sheer fucking cliche of being "Indie Gen X" man that is summed up completely in that pic.
As Nick pointed out, the sort of man that sits reading in those wanky coffeeshops bolted onto a bookshop, ensconded on a sofa making sure everybody notices he's reading something quirky with his Body Shop carrier bag next to him.

Right, I'm going to banish the taste of Indie-love by watching "Antichrist".
I'm sitting alone on a Saturday night, eating a tinned curry wearing a "My Name is Earl" tshirt and about to plunge myself into existential miserablism and, no doubt, Willem Dafoe's cock being waggled about for 2hrs.


***after watching Antichrist***
Jesus christ that was a difficult experience and something I have no desire to repeat.
Ever.
I'm going to watch the last 25mins of Requiem for a Dream to lighten the mood a little.

Edited at 22:23 on 19/09/09

Christ alive. I turn my back for a few hours to watch Terminator Salvation, and this place turns all Marie Claire!

We actually have some pretty ace female contributors and commenters, guys, you don't have to become asexual!

I don't think I'm too guilty of being one of these poncey guys. Having said that, I do own more "critically acclaimed" books than I've managed to read, I love Audrey Hepburn for her aesthetic beauty and my laptop has the beginnings of a script, so maybe just a little gay then.
Still, If I ever find myself sitting in one of those coffee shops, talking through my handsfree phone while writing on my laptop, I'm going to throw myself off a bridge.

Well if it's confession time - I'm seriously considering getting myself a manbag. The kind this guy would have flung over his shoulder. I almost feel ashamed of myself, but a rucksack just ain't going to cut it anymore...

"Mental problems, dude."

He's pretty much (Goaty is) on the nail there. He missed out the expensive guitar (probably a Gibson) standing in the corner that never gets played, and the huge LCD tv on the wall.

I know people like he's describing. They look like the guy in the picture. They have opinions about cornices and real gas lamp lights on the street they live on (seriously)

For the record, I have not one, but *two* Bonsai trees. I also play guitar.

Edited at 18:21 on 19/09/09

Right?
I write some of that shit here but imagine being trapped inside your own head 24/7 and it's always like that. People think I'm some wacky Internet character who over-reacts for entertainment value, if only. I watched a programme about teen mums and for 20mins I ranted about enforced sterilisation and eating their young *shakes head*


So, who's coming down the pub?

You got all that from that picture?
*shakes head*
Mental problems, dude.

*points at the picture leading this article*
God I want to smash his chicken-wrap/ciabatta with sun-dried tomatoes from Marks & Spencer out of his hands as he sits on the little patch of lawn outside his office and reads Mixmag on his lunchbreak.
Or break into his flat and uproot his bonsai tree and deface the picture of Einstein pulling the wacky face that hangs on his toilet door, grind his "Best of Johnny Cash" CD (here's a clue, he did more than 'Walk The Line') and point out that the wheels on his skateboard are pristine and just there to show his independant spirit.

*shakes head*
I can't watch this film, my head will explode.

I mentioned this movie to Mrs Pandaemonium, and pointed her at this review (It's quite relevant to us atm)

She saw the image above and said "I know exactly what type of movie it's going to be" and while reading the comments let out an audible groan upon reading "Little Miss Sunshine"

Perhaps not then....

She did like District 9 mind. Must be the hormones.....

That was full of typos but it's late & I haven't slept for a couple of days.

I've no doubt it's enjoyable if you like these sorts of films. I've just grown weary of that whole quirky lo-fi genre. I don't know, last film I really really enjoyed was There Will Be Blood. I loved the whole widescreen "cinema" feel of that, a movie that rebelled in being a work of art and unashamed lushness to it, but then I'm a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan, I love that he paints on huge canvass for his films. Whimsy indie-type films just leave me bored. Each to their own I s'pose.

It's a shame the marketing for Away We Go has done it such a disservice. It's not a romcom, it's a comedy and a pretty funny one at that. It's not like Juno and it's definitely not like 500 Days of Summer. It makes way more sense to compare it to Little Miss Sunshine, so if you object to that, Away We Go probably isn't for you.

Sam Mendes is an awesome director which puts the quality of this film way above most others. And it's not really an 'indie' film in the sense that Mendes is an established director and could easily secure a massive budget. I think this was his way of saying, ok, it didn't work out for Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, or for Leo and Kate, but it doesn't always have to be that way. It lacks the cynicism of his previous films.

Indie chic cliché or not, if it's well made then I'll likely watch it at some point.

As you say, I'm going on the trailer I've seen and the poster. Soon as I saw them I thought "uh-huh" and switched off as I've seen dozens of the exact same thing time and time again. They just wear their hip-credentials a little too obviously and it turns me off. It may well be a cute and quirky "little" film (directed by an oscar winner & starring known names) but there are dozens exactly like it. I think it's the whole "indie" vibe of these films that irritate, they're not at all - they're just sold that way. No different to "Legally Blonde 2", just wrapped in a different paper.

I suspect you're judging this film on the picture you see above and the posters and the trailers you've seen, which is fair enough. But it's easy for films with no real commercial hook to be missold in this way.

Stick a Mouldy Peaches song on the trailer, add a sketchy animated intro, you've got your new Juno - coincidentally the last low-budget indie film to make over $100 million.

I'm not sure you really know what the content of the film is either. It's not really a rom-com at all. There's no relationship drama, it's about having a baby and finding a place to bring it up - hardly typical teen comedy stuff.

I've not seen it either, but I've heard only good things from people who have. It's from a genuinely talented director (Jarhead aside) and the guy in it (Jim from The US Office) is actually really funny and relatable in everything I've seen him in. And I won't hold the fact that the woman in it was in Idiocracy against her either.

I think it's easy to overlook films like this just on the way they're sold. It's horrible to see a great film then see the marketing campaign horribly misjudged.

I'll see it at the weekend and report back, but I reckon you're wide of the mark here Goaty. I could understand that reaction to 500 Days Of Summer (that DID look awful) but not with this.

Edited at 23:18 on 16/09/09

I've not read the review yet, know little about the film, but did I ever enjoy the comment below. I've missed angry Goaty. More please.

Look at the picture above.
He is the target market, right down to *those* fucking glasses and carefully scruffy hair.
I bet if he was real, he'd like Dylan but not "the album he released through Starbucks, maaan" and carry a copy of Kerouac or a Bukowski anthology that he reads on the train making sure everybody else notices and sits there thinking "yeah that's right, I'm intellectual and a unique individual" whilst pretending not to notice.

Oooh oooh, and he'd use a Mac and have an iPhone and wear Converse/Vans because "Nike are exploitative" because he read it in No Logo, his last month's public-reading material.
And tells people he likes 2nd-hand bookshops.

Wanker.

Edited at 22:27 on 16/09/09

Anybody else had their fill of quirky indie romcom/learning lessons through soundtrack-available-at-Borders films yet?
Cue "500 Days of Summer" "Juno" "White on Rice" "Peter & Vandy" etc etc.

Sorry but I've had enough of these faux-indie Generation-X aimed fluff films that come complete with achingly hip soundtrack CD and a "Hey, we were at Sundance" vibe to them.
They're no different than the Jennifer Aniston mass-aimed movies that top the box office during the summer - they just have a few more words in and marketed at black-rimmed spectacle wearing latte-quaffing NFT/Barbican goers.

Yet something like "Into The Wild" "The Proposition" or the upcoming "The Road" are roundly ignored and passed around on DVD between friends because they lack a mass-market "Hey this is, like, totally better and different to Transformers 12" push to people that think they like to be above Summer Blockbusters but will not or do not seek out anything genuinely unique.

Not an attack on the review, I'm just personally sick to the high teeth of these neutered, toothless films that offer nothing except acoustic music & whimsy neatly wrapped in a bubble of self-congratulatory smugness.