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Do IT this week: Layering
Krasinski-Rudolph film charming look at love, marriage, parenthood; arrives on DVD Tuesday
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Sep 27, 2009
Away We Go, hitting video shelves on Tuesday, is an odd but charming movie, at once a road picture and a contemplation of love, marriage and parenthood.
It falters at the end, when director Sam Mendes oversells his ending with loud music and a drawn-out pace. But on the whole, it is far more satisfying than Revolutionary Road, a Mendes-directed film with some similar themes.
Revolu-tionary Road — already available on DVD and Blu-ray — boasted a reunion of Titanic co-stars Kate Winslet (Mendes' real-life wife) and Leonardo DiCaprio. Away We Go (Universal, $28.98 DVD, $39.98 Blu-ray) offers seemingly more modest casting, with a couple played by John Krasinski (Jim from the American version of The Office) and Maya Rudolph, known mainly for her work on Saturday Night Live. But it is an impressive pairing, and Rudolph in particular is wonderful — a sensible but sensitive presence capable of great emotional power.
Written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, Away We Go follows Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) through a major decision. Verona is six months' pregnant, and a surprising event encourages Burt and Verona to go in search of the perfect place to live and bring up their child.
Instead of going forth randomly, they check out places where they have family or friends. As they go, they judge based not only locations but also on those people they know, and how they are working out in couples and as parents.
As you might imagine, they don't always find sunshine and gumdrops. And as it moves along, Away We Go recalls films like Easy Rider and Harry and Tonto, where the road provided a way of looking at personal relationships and America's array of cultures.
It does so, though, with some wickedly funny scenes, whether it's Burt and Verona dealing with each other, or their encounters with others. The supporting cast includes Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Catherine O'Hara and Maggie Gyllenhaal, all in good form. Look, too, at the work by Melanie Lynskey (Rose on Two and a Half Men) and Chris Messina (seen recently as Eric Powell in Julie & Julia), especially what Lynskey can do with very few words.
Away We Go is rated R, and for very good reasons. As I said, the ending tries too hard, but up to that point, this is a film that kept me engaged, smiling and more than once touched.
Extras include a making-of segment, a piece on the film's attempts to be environmentally friendly, and an audio commentary by Mendes, Eggers and Vida. The Blu-ray adds BD-Live components.
Madonna makes one of her periodic forays into film with Filth and Wisdom, a piece claiming to be about ''the undeniable artistic impulse.'' Coming to DVD (IFC Films/MPI, $19.98), it is the singer's directorial debut; she also co-wrote the film. As you might expect, the unrated production has a kinky side: one character is a cross-dressing prostitute, another, a ballerina working as a stripper.
But that does not appear to serve any higher purpose. During a limited run in theaters, critical reaction was not great. The Rotten Tomatoes Web site collated about 54 reviews and deemed only 39 of them favorable. Nor does Madonna offer any defense of the final product on the DVD; the lone extra is a trailer.
If I say ''identical cousins'' and you get the urge to sing, then you're probably primed for The Patty Duke Show: The Complete First Season (Shout! Factory, 36 episodes, six discs, $44.99).
The series starred Duke as, yes, identical cousins, one a typical American teen, the other a cultured girl from Scotland. The camera trickery to have Duke play both roles was pretty basic — and looks even worse now, more than 40 years after the end of the series. But it was pleasant enough in a '60s sitcom way. The DVD includes a 13-minute piece on the show, with recent interviews with Duke and co-stars Paul O'Keefe, Eddie Applegate and William Schallert. Among the vignettes: Duke herself was so stuck in her acting career, she had no friends her own age — and other young people had to be brought in to teach her the dances of the moment.
The very funny Internet series The Guild, about online gamers, makes a new appearance on DVD in The Guild: Seasons One and Two (New Video, 22 brief episodes, two discs, $19.95). It has been previously available in two separately released discs as an Amazon.com exclusive.
Felicia Day — also delightful in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog — stars winningly. DVD extras include cast interviews, bloopers and audio commentaries. And the series continues online at http://www.watchtheguild.com.
You may be looking at the calendar and thinking about Halloween, but some DVD distributors are trying to get you in the Christmas mood. Items in stores on Tuesday include A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa; Disney Animation Collection Volume 7: Mickey's Christmas Carol; and Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving 10th Anniversary Edition. And on Oct. 6, titles include A Miser Brothers' Christmas and I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Away We Go, hitting video shelves on Tuesday, is an odd but charming movie, at once a road picture and a contemplation of love, marriage and parenthood.
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