Away We Go is a 2009 American comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film s two leads are John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It is Mendes s first film without Thomas Newman s collaboration.

Plot

Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) and Burt Farlander (John Krasinski), are in their early thirties in the Denver area and struggling to meet daily needs and build fulfilling lives. Learning they will soon become parents, they are confronted with the challenge of how – and where – to raise a child and build a happy family.

Six months into Verona s pregnancy, they visit their only family in the area, Burt s parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O Hara and Jeff Daniels), only to find that they have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium, a month before the baby is due. They will be gone for two years and they have already rented their place to another couple, despite Burt s and Verona s situation. Frustrated with their selfishness and careless attitude, Burt and Verona decide this is an opportunity to find somewhere else to raise their family, as they both can work from home and live wherever they choose.

They first visit Phoenix, Arizona, to see Verona s old boss, Lily (Allison Janney), her husband, Lowell (Jim Gaffigan), and their two children. Burt in particular is disturbed by Lily and Lowell s crass and mean-spirited behavior toward one another and their children.

Burt and Verona next visit Verona s sister, Grace (Carmen Ejogo), in Tucson. Verona urges Burt to try to persuade Grace to stay with her boring boyfriend. When Burt takes a call and displays his trademark humor, Grace tells Verona that she is lucky to have him and Verona agrees.

They next visit Burt s childhood friend and pseudo-cousin in Madison, Wisconsin, LN (pronounced ellen ) (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a college professor at the University of Wisconsin with inherited money and radical views about parenting. They bring a stroller as a gift, greatly angering LN as she and her husband Roderick s (Josh Hamilton) is a continuum home. When Roderick s condescension and LN s backhanded compliments to Verona get to be too much for Burt, he tells them they are horrible people and he and Verona leave but not before taking their son on a wild stroller ride through the house (which he enjoys).

Burt and Verona then visit old college friends in Montreal, Tom (Chris Messina) and his wife, Munch Garnett (Melanie Lynskey), and their diverse family of adopted children. Verona and Burt are happy to have found a loving family and a nice town, deciding to move to Montreal. When they all go to dinner, Burt admits he has proposed to Verona many times, but she always refuses (this stems from anguish over her dead parents inevitable absence from the wedding). After dinner, Tom tells Burt that Munch has recently suffered her fifth miscarriage and that they seem unable to have biological children.

In the morning, Burt receives an emergency call from his brother, Courtney (Paul Schneider), in Miami, whose wife has left him. Burt and Verona fly to Miami, where Courtney worries about his young daughter and the potential effects of a divorce on her. Burt tries to comfort Courtney while Verona spends time with his daughter. Burt and Verona spend the night outside on a trampoline, promising to love each other and their daughter and have a happy home.

The next day, Verona tells Burt a story about her childhood house and her parents (who were both killed in a car crash when she was 22). Moved by her memory, they decide to settle in Verona s old family home on the Florida Panhandle. Realizing it is the place for them, they sit together happily, overlooking the water.

Cast

• John Krasinski as Burt Farlander
• Maya Rudolph as Verona De Tessant
• Carmen Ejogo as Grace De Tessant
• Jeff Daniels as Jerry Farlander
• Catherine O Hara as Gloria Farlander
• Allison Janney as Lily
• Jim Gaffigan as Lowell
• Maggie Gyllenhaal as LN
• Josh Hamilton as Roderick
• Melanie Lynskey as Munch Garnett
• Chris Messina as Tom Garnett
• Paul Schneider as Courtney Farlander

Release

Away We Go had a limited theater release in the United States starting June 25, 2009. It opened the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 29, 2009.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 187 reviews, with an average rating of 6.57 out of 10. The critical consensus reads, Built on a set of quirks and charms that are as noticeable as they are interchangeable, Away We Go is a sweet but uneven road trip . A. O. Scott of The New York Times described the two main characters as self-righteous people aware of their special status as uniquely sensitive, caring, smart and cool beings on a planet full of cretins and failures . In response to reviews accusing Verona and Burt of being smug, superior and condescending, Roger Ebert said that these are not sins if you have something to be smug about and much reason to condescend. He gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 58 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Away We Go was released on June 2, 2009, and primarily features songs from singer/songwriter Alexi Murdoch, instead of an original film score.

(All songs by Alexi Murdoch except where noted)

All My Days was featured in the film s trailer.

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-06-26
RuntimeMins	98
RuntimeStr	1h 38min
Plot	A couple who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old f…
Awards	Awards, 3 wins & 10 nominations
Directors	Sam Mendes
Writers	Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida
Stars	John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney
Produced by	Pippa Harris,Peter Saraf,Edward Saxon,Marc Turtletaub,Corinne Golden Weber,Mari-Jo Winkler
Music by	Alexi Murdoch
Cinematography by	Ellen Kuras
Film Editing by	Sarah Flack
Casting By	Ellen Lewis,Debra Zane
Production Design by	Jess Gonchor
Art Direction by	Henry Dunn
Set Decoration by	Lydia Marks
Costume Design by	John Dunn
Makeup Department	Mary Aaron,Belinda Anderson,Valerie Badalian,Angelica Castillo,Caridad Cuqui Collazo,Judi Cooper-Sealy,Beatrice De Alba,Nathaniel De Lineadeus,Felice Diamond,Bari Goldin,Lisa Hazell,Maria Morales,Michele Paris,Carol Raskin,Jeffrey Sacino,Henry Soyos,Gunnar Swanson,Dana Vargas,Paula Kelly,Ashlyn McIntyre
Production Management	David Bausch,Jane Nerlinger Evans,David Gerson,Kelly Helstrom,Brooke C. Johnson,Jennifer Lane,Elayne Schneiderman Schmidt,Mari-Jo Winkler,Alexis Wiscomb
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Timothy Bird,Keith Jones,Matthew Mason,Jennifer Truelove,David Catalano,Scott Foster
Art Department	Chris Alicia Jr.,Tommy Allen,John Balling,Martin Bernstein,Elizabeth Boller,William R. Bricker,Paul A. Burnett,Jennifer Buturla,Michael Calabrese,Kelly Canfield,Orlando A. Castro,Michael Charboneau,Eric Cheripka,Isaac Cohen,James P. Crasper,Paul Damien,Ruth Deleon,Vicki Dittemore,Rick Dondero,Richard Dowgin,Scott Eberle,Ann Edgeworth,Michael D. Fitzgerald,Lauren Fitzsimmons,Patrick Fontana,Graylan Franklin,Michael Gallart,David Goldstein,Alex Gorodetsky,Brian P. Harris,Dennis J. Harris,James Harris,Jeffrey Harris,Nel Hernandez,David Hill,Edward A. Ioffreda,Dean F. Janik,Rachel Janocko,George Kousoulides,Kevin Kropp,Shawn W. Logue,Ben Lowe,Brian Luehring,Miguel López-Castillo,Duncan Macpherson,Kevin Mahon,Luke Malloy,Charles E. McCarry,Mike Melchiove,Julian Mercado,Victor Morales,Charles Morris,Kyle Morris,Keith Mosca,Quang Nguyen,Richard Oeser,John M. Oswald,Rosa Palomo,Kim Pierce,Frank A. Raffa Jr.,John Ralbovsky,Jeremy Alan Read,Jack Reeves,Kathrine Rondeau,Steve Rosenzweig,Megan Rowland,Emilio Saez,Amy Safhay,John R. Salemi,Nicholas Scott,David J. Shaw,Roger Sherman,Gregg Singer,Mike Smith,Kelly Solomon,Sarah Sprawls,Daniel Stacy,Katherine M. Szilagyi,Richard Till,Erica Torres,Karen Virgin,Chris Vogt,Robert Vogt,Ginny Walsh,Lucy Weber,Christopher Weiser,Robert Welch,Cary Whittaker,Douglas Winters,Roy Harris Zarow,Shawn W. Logue,Robert Loring Jr.
Sound Department	Jamie Baker,Courtney Bishop,David Boulton,Nick Carbone,Bob Chefalas,David Corcoran,Marko A. Costanzo,Rich Crescenti,Mark DeSimone,Brian Gallagher,Ruth Hernandez,Mike Howells,Paul Hsu,Bobby Johanson,Bret Johnson,Marissa Littlefield,Paul McGrath,Scott Millan,Michael Miller,Branka Mrkic,Beauxregard Neylen,Benjamin Patrick,Mike Poppleton,Andy Potvin,Joy Marie Smith,Paul Tirone,Dan Wesson,Brian Wittle,Michael Fowler,George A. Lara,Douglas Murray,Jan Petrov
Special Effects by	Bruce E. Merlin,Robert J. Scupp
Visual Effects by	Glenn Allen,Mathieu Archambault,Sarah Barber,Barb Benoit,Dennis Berardi,Cheyenne Bloomfield,Dominik Bochenski,Ella Boliver,Yashwant Bombe,Wayne Brinton,Dan Cayer,Hubert Chan,Chris De Souza,Molle DeBartolo,Rob Del Ciancio,Thai Son Doan,Amélie Dubois,Danny Duchesneau,Jason Edwardh,Richard Friedlander,Tommy Gervais,Matt Glover,Jason Gougeon,Roopesh Gujar,Markus Janner,Cathy Jefferies,Vikram Kale,Isabelle Langlois,Chris MacKenzie,Sarah McMurdo,Daniel Mizuguchi,Jesh Krishna Murthy,Andrew Nguyen,Jessica Nolet,Rob Phillips,Marco Polsinelli,Kevin Quatman,Matt Ralph,Dominic Remane,Eric J. Robertson,Vinod Sathe,Matt Schofield,Jerry Seguin,Safia Siad,Jim Su,Sebastien Veilleux,Aaron Weintraub,Dan Cayer,James Cooper,David Fix,Parth Ghatge,Colleen Jenkinson,Claire McLachlan,Sebastien Proulx,Paul Saint-Hilaire,Dominik Wojtarowicz
Stunts	Ricou Browning Jr.,Marly Coronel,Ethan Rosenberg
Camera and Electrical Department	Peter Agliata,Sebastián Almeida,Joshua Anderson,Russell Beard,Frank Boone,Tod Boyle,Patrick Capone,Andrew Cavagnet,Jay Coolidge,April Ruane Crowley,Nicolas Donadio,François Duhamel,David Dutkus,Glen Engels,Matthew J. Errico,Chris Estrada,Troy Felder,James J. Ferris,Michael P. Fredrickson,Anthony Gamiello,Chris Gamiello,Dennis Gamiello,Fred Gibson,John Gilgar,Scott L. Gordon,Carlos Omar Guerra,Reynaldo Guimet,Marvin Haven,Garry Hirt,Susan Jacob,Christopher D. Jones,Bruce Jordan,Ben Kanegson,Keith Karidis,Meg Kettell,Jamie Klein,David Knoblock,Daniel Letizia,Chris Lombardozzi,Bill Losh,Edward W. Lowry,Xavier Luevano,Danny Mallory,Sean McCardell,Jon McGinty,Bryan Miller,Marty Miller,Kai Morbey,John Muliler,John C. Nadeau,Geoff Nangle,Ed Nessen,Robert S. Nielsen,Christopher Norr,Raymond Orraca,Alonso Parra,Jorge Parra,Earl Perque,Antonio Ponti,Tom Potoskie,Michael P. Prisco Jr.,Brian Pruitt,Brendan Quinlan,George Richardson,Eddie Rodriguez,Gary Ryan,Satish Sahi,Eddie Santiago,Jim Seckel,Sarah Sher,Debbie Stampfle,Paul Stapleton-Smith,Cory R. Starr,Matt Stelling,Mitch Stelling,John Stewart,Jared Sturner,Carl Tebbenhoff,Michael Tesfai,Steve Whitcomb,Todd Wood,Jeremy Wren,Nickolas Xiros II,Chris Young,Josh Zientarski,John Alcantara,Michael Arisohn,Mike L. Germaine,Mike Indursky,Anthony Zibelli
Animation Department	Saxena Abhishek,Daniel Mizuguchi
Casting Department	Melissa Braun,Sondra James,Shayna Markowitz,Helen McCready,Geoffrey Miclat,Meghan Rafferty,Tannis Vallely,Grant Wilfley,Lori Wyman,Teri Frost,Allison Hall,Tamara McDaniel,James McEvoy
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Magda Amado,Lynette Bernay,Ashley Bissing,Joseph Cigliano,Trenee Clayton,Sandi Figueroa,Carolyn Finlayson,Sharon Globerson,Sahar Halabi,Heather Holmes,Askia Won-Ling Jacob,Maggie McFarland,Tim McKelvey,Susie Minor,Margaret Moy,Janna Notick,Adam Watt,Darren Clark,Brooke Wheeler
Editorial Department	Leslie Bautsch,Steven Bodner,Andrew Buckland,David Chai,Jen Choi,James Cohen,Joe Gawler,Janet Gaynor,Jeff Hocken,Kevin Krout,Jack Lewars,Alan Lowe,Tim Mullen,John Potter,Dave Pultz,Jacob Robinson,Jonathan Sanden,Darrell R. Smith,Dale E. Grahn,Daniel Triller
Location Management	Tyson Bidner,Brian Burger,Jean Chien,Chris Cloud,Sarah Crofts,Kat Donahue,Kate Eisemann,John Garrett,Mike Grosky,Kyle Hanlon,Denton Hanna,Joe Mundo,Marcel Pinkowski,Jennifer Radzikowski,Susanne Ragnarsson,Demian Resnick,Jeff Rollason,Justin Rosini,Jason Sallee,Leah Sokolowsky,Kamen Velkovsky,Sandra Woodward,Dennis Buckley,Michael Hartel,Niema Hulin,Jason A. McCauley,Jared Ortega
Music Department	Christine Bergren,Jim Dunbar,Annette Kudrak,Dan Levinson,Randall Poster,Daniel McIntosh
Script and Continuity Department	Jayne-Ann Tenggren
Transportation Department	Tony Abbruzzese,Garvin Adams,Jim Alfonso,Richard Andresen,Lynn Ashby,Don Baer,Brian Bailey,Jackie Lee Belcher,Willie L. Bell,Jon Bergholz,Daniel Bigsy Biggs,Wesley S. Bloom,David Bostic,Thomas Breheny,Steve Buring,Robert E. Byrd,Rudolph Camphausen,Michael Cannestro,Charlie Carpenter,Enrico Caruso,Rich Cella,Robert Chookhachian,Adam Cincannon,David Conelli,Clint Coyle,Larry Craig,Manuel Cuevas,Richard Currens,Stephen H. Davenport,Rafael Davila,Fred Davis,Chris Defeo,Daniel Dusch,Chris Erway,Antonio M. Galindo Sr.,Hal Gibson,Robert R. Grandin,Joe T. Griffin,David Hamilton,Todd Helman,Harry Hendricks,Sidney Highsmith,Craig M. Hofstrand,Mike Hogan,Leslie M. Hughes,Michael A. Imbro,Pirty Lee Jackson,Douville Junot,Thomas Kearns,Kevin Keefe,Kristopher Keefe,Vincent King,Amber R. Kirsch,Mishelle Laborde,Robert Lansing,Pat Larkin,Ramiro Leiva,Monty Lira,Giovanni Lo Duca,Elmer Malits,Silford Martin,Patricia Mathis,Mack Matlock,Robin Monaghan,Keith Morris,Lee Nashold,Gary O Connell,Dennis O Grady,Ron Parsell,Steve Polon,Richard Presutti,Rick Purdy,Curtis Randoll,Vickie Raynor Robison,Dan Romero,Cara Sachse,John Schramm,Dennis J. Steele,John H. Stephens,Jim Stewart,Leonard Suppes,Danny P. Taylor,James C. Taylor,David Teasley,José Tejada,David Thompson,Thomas Thompson,Rodney Thorpe,Freddie Turett,Mark Varner,Rich Vetere,Richard Vishinsky,Dominick Vitale,John Michael Vukson,Steve Wagner,Brian Walker,William Randy Warbritton,Michael Ware,Mark A. Whittaker,Jimmy Williams,Emmett L. Willis,Ron Wilson,Marc Wolff,Mike Yukson,Dave Zydorski,K.C. Colebrooke
Additional Crew	Jason Acevedo,John Alfred,Seville Anastos,Diana Ascher,Billy Bamman,Harrison Beal,Justin Bell,Pamela Bertini,Ricou Browning Jr.,Justin Browning,Lisa Bullard,Jerome Butler,Chelsey Cary,Bernie Cassar,Ira Chute,Michael B. Clark,Lance Conlee,Georgia Cox,Gregory Cuozzo,Deliana Daskalova,Jerry L. Dasti,Carmen De Vingo,Vincent Buddy De Vingo,Joseph DeCongilio,Emilie Deschamps,Adrienne Dine,Derek Dion,Jacqueline Eckhouse,Vivian Enfinger,Frank Fernandez,Fernando Figueredo,Scott Foster,Jeffry Freeman,Sara Gagliardi,Christopher Ganze,Daniel Garcia,Ivan Garcia,Laurie Gershon,David Giere,Charlotte Gilliam,Philip Giunta,Dan Gloeckner,Adam Gonzalez,Julie Ann Grasso,Duck Grossberg,Rob Harris,Maureen Higgins,John Hodges,Jamie Horwitz,Crystal Jackson,Steven Jacobs,Jeffro,Savanna Johnson,Marc H. Katz,Matthew Kelley,Todd Kelly,Ashley Kravitz,David Laurentin,Ernie Lausten,Anne Yvette Legendre,Shawn Fulton Lucas,Lee Lusby,Richard Mancuso,Michael W. Manning,Peter Marschark,Lisa L. Martin,Lisa Matsukawa,Sean McIntosh,Erica Mckee,Mack McKelvey,Michelle Mehn,Daniele Tate Melia,Alonzo Nevarez,Will Novak,Kelly O Bier,Leena P. Ogle,Cynthia Onrubia,Juan Ortiz,Kyle Page,Eric Papa,Julie Pastor,Vicki Pearlman,Jim Pellegrinelli,Michael Perilstein,Mike Phillips,Jorge Pina,Patricia Porter,Keith Price,Alex Puma,Marie Randall,Virginia Reilly,Giovanni Rodriguez,Sophie Saleyron,Jere Sallee,Patrick Sandefur,Dominic Sbardella,Nicholas E. Schepisi,Marc Siegel,Jason Soule,High Spurgin,Noah Stahl,Anita Sum,Anthony Torre,Benjamin Velez,Teddy Wenger III,Mario Xavier,Tariq Yasin,Dana Zolli,Rachelle Betker,Kristen Boulé,Vince Brown,Marlo Carroll,Chelsea Christopher,Betsy Custer,Tom Deakman,Chad Diaz,Sesh Evans,Steven Fulcher,Jordan Fuller Vera,Andrew Hevia,Todd M. Hofacker,Sarah Horton,Phyllis Johnson,Rustin Mangum,Rick Mattoon,Sean Oliver,Amanda Phillips,Anthony Pizzini,Peter Pamela Rose,Katie Rotolo,Jill Sapenoff,Gladys Silvera,Brandon Steed,Nathan Stipes,Mike Tank,Shermagne Umali,Matthew J. Vince,David Vogel
Thanks	Charlie Crist,Wendy Culpepper,Helen Kaminski,Scott Rudin,Joe Violante,Ellen Woolf
Genres	Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Companies	Focus Features, Edward Saxon Productions (ESP), Big Beach Films
Countries	USA, UK
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	7
ImDbRatingVotes	53742
MetacriticRating	58
Keywords	road trip,train travel,arizona territory,arizona,arizona desert