Monday, July 6, 2009

'Away We Go' Taps Parents' Paranoia

Full disclosure: I went into Sam Mendes' new film Away We Go with low expectations. After having been burned by my sky-high expectations for the period film Revolutionary Road, which starred Mendes' Oscar winning wife Kate Winslet, I girded myself for a sanctimonious head-scratcher that would leave me feeling disappointed.

I'm happy to report that I was thoroughly charmed by Away We Go.

The film had its heart in just the right place. Though I did not buy John Krasinksi (of The Office) as a guy who successfully sells insurance to insurance companies while walking around looking like an unmade bed with a mop of untidy hair, huge beard and rumpled outfits, I found the relationship between Krasinski's Burt and Maya Rudolph's (SNL) Verona as pitch perfect. They portray an unmarried thirtysomething couple in search of the right community in which to raise their unborn daughter, though the film winds up being more about finding the right mindset in which to start a family.

My Pop Culture & Politics column this week discusses Burt & Verona's attempt to figure out if there's a way they, or anyone for that matter, can raise a kid together without screwing her up.

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