29: I watched a movie last night
I'd almost been persuaded not to watch Away We Go based on a fair amount of dismissive scuttlebutt I'd absorbed through the horror that is the Internet. The Netflix envelope had been sitting around for a week. I certainly didn't want to subject Jack to it -- he's a fairly open-minded guy, but the movie had a pregnant woman in it, and as I'd just been watching The Business of Being Born and seen how he avoided the room for ninety minutes on the off chance he'd be faced with anything birth-y, I figured I'd spare him Away We Go because it had a pregnant lady in it and YOU JUST NEVER KNOW, THEY CAN BLOW AT ANY MOMENT. Plus, Jack had watched Jackson emerge from me in Sensurround IMAX with 3-D Smell-O-Vision, and he's made it pretty clear that that was enough precious emergence for one lifetime. Fine.
Wow, what a preamble, huh! So I cracked open a leftover bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse and I found Away We Go absolutely delightful. And the moment it was over I started to wonder what was wrong with me. For liking it. Am I not jaded enough? Am I too easily swept up in the charm of things and incapable of bringing the hammer of discernment down on a film that a whole bunch of people said blows? Does having a decade on the main characters airlift me out of the second-hand Eames chair where you sit being huffy at a director for not "getting" what it's truly like to be thirtysomething with thrift-y taste, a positive outlook, and some questions about the possibility of creating a happy family?
I had no one to talk to (as usual) about this, so I went to imdb.com. There I found a few bland discussions about the film, including one started by a guy (?) who was cranky for some interesting reasons that seemed to center around the fact that Jim from The Office was in the film but he wasn't as funny in this movie as he is on The Office! Apparently thread-starter walked into the theater expecting a movie version of his favorite TV show and then became greatly affronted when John Krasinski's character didn't smirk enough. THAT, my friends, is . . . I don't even know what it is. Is that level of attachment to your own expectations even possible?
I found a friend in Roger Ebert, which was somewhat reassuring. (I like Roger Ebert. If you don't like him, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends, I'm sure we can find other common ground. How do you feel about fruit-flavored V-8 juice?)
Ebert led me to A.O. Scott, and then I got it, I got where all the disgust was coming from. I really like A.O. Scott, but I think he was riding on the other side of the boat from where I was so we saw some different things. He felt Bert and Verona traveled around thinking they were better than every couple they visited on their trek around the country, whereas I took it more as they were just innocent of what happens on the other side of adulthood, and were shocked at how people they'd known years earlier had evolved into life circumscribed by marriage and children. People crack. Or they turn into who they need to be to make shit work. Who was it who said (probably a million people) that they were a perfect parent before they had kids? That's all it is. I thought Bert and Verona were on the mild side of the pre-kid smugness continuum, actually; but we all project our own stuff on other people, so maybe where I see two people who love each other but don't have a clue how hard it's going to get, A.O. Scott sees two people who love each other and think they're better than everyone else.
(I wonder how he feels about fruited V-8?)
Wow, what a preamble, huh! So I cracked open a leftover bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse and I found Away We Go absolutely delightful. And the moment it was over I started to wonder what was wrong with me. For liking it. Am I not jaded enough? Am I too easily swept up in the charm of things and incapable of bringing the hammer of discernment down on a film that a whole bunch of people said blows? Does having a decade on the main characters airlift me out of the second-hand Eames chair where you sit being huffy at a director for not "getting" what it's truly like to be thirtysomething with thrift-y taste, a positive outlook, and some questions about the possibility of creating a happy family?
I had no one to talk to (as usual) about this, so I went to imdb.com. There I found a few bland discussions about the film, including one started by a guy (?) who was cranky for some interesting reasons that seemed to center around the fact that Jim from The Office was in the film but he wasn't as funny in this movie as he is on The Office! Apparently thread-starter walked into the theater expecting a movie version of his favorite TV show and then became greatly affronted when John Krasinski's character didn't smirk enough. THAT, my friends, is . . . I don't even know what it is. Is that level of attachment to your own expectations even possible?
I found a friend in Roger Ebert, which was somewhat reassuring. (I like Roger Ebert. If you don't like him, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends, I'm sure we can find other common ground. How do you feel about fruit-flavored V-8 juice?)
Ebert led me to A.O. Scott, and then I got it, I got where all the disgust was coming from. I really like A.O. Scott, but I think he was riding on the other side of the boat from where I was so we saw some different things. He felt Bert and Verona traveled around thinking they were better than every couple they visited on their trek around the country, whereas I took it more as they were just innocent of what happens on the other side of adulthood, and were shocked at how people they'd known years earlier had evolved into life circumscribed by marriage and children. People crack. Or they turn into who they need to be to make shit work. Who was it who said (probably a million people) that they were a perfect parent before they had kids? That's all it is. I thought Bert and Verona were on the mild side of the pre-kid smugness continuum, actually; but we all project our own stuff on other people, so maybe where I see two people who love each other but don't have a clue how hard it's going to get, A.O. Scott sees two people who love each other and think they're better than everyone else.
(I wonder how he feels about fruited V-8?)
34 Comments:
I really liked that movie as well. I didn't actually catch the smug thing much at all. I thought Bart and Verona were questioning their own lives and decisions in the face of the totally insane people to whom they once related and felt their instability and uncertainty looking for "home." I think the review at Pajiba by Daniel Carlson was almost right on: http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/away-we-go-review.php
I liked the movie too. Some parts were too goofy - the train travels and the trampoline scene. I thought their travels and visiting people showed them exactly how much worse real-life can get but people manage and adjust and it is all worth it. Burt and Verona get the confidence to trust themselves to be good parents. I did not get the too-smug vibe at all. I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal and the whole sea-horse bit. It is scary, but I actually know people like that.
While I found the movie entertaining, it infuriates me not to know information about the baby. What about the baby?
I watched it Friday night with my teenage daughters.I actually thought it was sweet. I didn't think they were smug. I thought they were trying to get a glimpse of ghost of Christmas future, and figure it out. I loved the scene with Verona's sister in the bathtub. I also loved the end and wished someone had left me an old funky house on large body of water.
The girls liked it too. Even the cynical, sarcastic one who hates any movie with a happy ending.
I thought it was the best movie ever. I didn't know there were people who didn't like it. But I don't get out much.
I liked the Maggie Gyllenhaal character, too, I think she did it really well -- if anyone was smug in the movie, it was her -- but I thought Burt and Verona's reaction to her was overboard. They were polite to the abusive alcoholic who took them to a dog track and treated her kids like pets, but the overzealous, tribal Gaia attachment parenting advocate sent them over the edge?
I liked it right up until the end. The fact that they **SPOILER AHEAD** had a big, beautiful house waiting for them all along **END SPOILER** irritated me to an unreasonable extent.
You are right about the overreaction to the Maggie Gyllenhaal character, but I still cracked up when they urged Wolfy into the stroller. The sweet parts were the best, the scenes with the sister and brother, the infertile couple. I liked it.
As I remember it Burt & Verona were pretty open about not feeling qualified for the job from about the minute they got her pregnant. Or at least Verona was. If anyone was smug it was Gyllenhaal's character certainly. I really liked the movie, I liked the ambiguous ending, but it wasn't perfect. My only big complaint with it was I wished they'd spent less time on the Gyllenhaal family and more time with the Canadian family. They crammed so much into Canada (infertility AND adoption but we only need 6 minutes!) and the actors for that were doing great work.
Glad you liked it.
"People turn into who they need to be to make shit work." I love that. That is absolutely what happens. I'm going to be quoting that for the rest of my life.
Thank you for the reminder about this movie! I wanted to see it but rarely actually get to movies in theater. I'll have to add it to my list.
I loved this movie. Plus, I have a silver-framed photo of Roger Ebert on my piano. (The framed photo was a gift. I'm just sayin'.) ;^)
Someone has to do it, right? I *hated* this movie. Pretty much from the start. It wasn't smugness, but just a lack of soul that makes for great comedy or dramedy or whatever. This film has such a pedigree (aside from the Eggers-Vida dynamic duo, Sam Mendes directing a bunch of actors I adore) that my expectations may have been too high. If I had gone in expecting dreck maybe I wouldn't feel as disappointed by it. But I was. Disappointed and irritated by the entire thing.
And I totally love Roger Ebert.
I loved the movie and I wasn't expecting to, for many of the same reasons you mention. I think when they turned to each other and discussed whether they were fuck-ups or not really made it great for me. Also the entire scene with the amateur strip club stuff blew me away. I am buying it for all my single female friends for the holidays.
I really liked the low key acting. It was just mellow and real. And-its totally scary but there are a LOT of crazy attachment parent types in Seattle who shriek away from strollers. I say, strap them in and go!
When the only tool you have is a Hammer of Discernment every problem starts to look like an indie film.
Yay, LetterB! See, it sounds like you had the same issue with expectations that a lot of people did. I had the same problem with "Up". Sometimes I think it's best to wait like a year to see a film, just to disconnect from the hype.
I liked this film a lot. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate quiet and sweet movies. They're a balm for my soul.
I, too, watched this movie over the Thanksgiving weekend. I was glad I didn't make my husband watch it with me. I blame the marketing people for making the movie seem more funny than touching in the commercials, thereby misleading many Office fans. It happens SO often.
That said, I really enjoyed it. I didn't think they seemed smug, I was most pretty touched by how scared they were and how they each had their own way of dealing with it, but still managed to face it together. But I love movies and always really want to enjoy them. Watching movies by myself without anyone to pick them apart makes them much more enjoyable.
It's kind of beautiful the way you want to bring everyone together with fruit flavored V-8.
Which I object to, on principle.
I do like Roger Ebert though.
I love a movie with a weak plot that doesn't slap you in the face with obviousness and issues! This movie was like a weekend float down a river in a canoe... a few bumps, but mostly entertaining. I just went through the same thing trying to decide where I wanted to live, where I wanted to call home... so I kinda identified with the concept. Why do movies always have to have DRAMA or fear or obvious laughing moments? Like life, its always good to just take a break and not be expecting something to come next.
I loved it. I knew nothing at all about it when my friends dragged me to see it, and it's very rare for me to see a movie without a single preconception (ha!). I laughed, I almost cried. It became a part of me. Well, not that. But I liked it a lot.
The publicity machine cobbled (!) some trailers together that in no way captured the tone of the film, but instead capitalized on Jim from The Office's and that lady from SNL's kooky popularity. And raised certain expectations in the movie-going audience, and when those expectations weren't met, people hated the movie for not being what they thought it would be. Way to get the grassroots hatred going, Hollywood!
Thanks for reminding me of the scene where they discuss whether they are fuck-ups. That was fantastic. Overall I really liked the movie, but I thought the ending was a little schmaltzy.
It wasn't the greatest movie I ever saw, but I thought it had a lot of truth in it. Most of us start out with the immature idea that we have the power to make our lives exactly the way we want them. Then we go through the process of realizing that everything is completely out of our control, and we have a breakdown and get anti-depressants and maybe eventually find some way to make it through. They were at the beginning of that very difficult journey. I thought the movie portrayed them as naive and vulnerable, not superior. I think A.O. Scott has an inferiority complex and a lack of understanding of the word "hyperbole."
Way to stick it to A.O., Kristin!
I loved this movie too. Karen Walrond AND Roger Ebert both recommended it...how could it be bad? :-)
Seriously, I didn't get that the two characters were smug at all. I perceived that they were pretty happy with who they were, is all, and searching with semi-open minds for the next step. I think people who have self-doubt and question themselves a lot see self-assured, happy people and think, "Smug!" It's all in your perspective.
I thought LN (the Maggie Gyllenhaal character) and her husband were over the top, but I don't think Burt and Verona were too judgmental about them till Burt and Verona started acting superior and judgy themselves.
Uh...in that previous comment, I clearly meant to say "I don't think Burt and Verona were too judgmental about them till LN and her husband started acting superior and judgy themselves." Sorry 'bout that.
The first I heard of the movie was the A.O. Scott review. Sometimes you read a negative review but can tell that the things that bother the reviewer do not bother you, and that's how I felt about this one. I enjoyed the movie a lot and identified with it as a mid-thirties newish parent who has lived in all sorts of places (and started over in a new place with a 6-month-old).
I liked the differences in all the couples they visited and how each couple was clearly sort of fucked up in some way. But parenting seems to be all about extremes because everyone is ALWAYS picking on other parents for how they do or don't parent their children (I mean look at the comments on mommy blogs if you don't know what I mean). So that seemed kind of timely. And I liked how Bert and Verona weren't judging anyone else. They only really reacted to Maggie G's character when she started telling them what they should or shouldn't do.
Anyway. That's all to say, I liked it. The end.
Personally, I couldn't care less about this movie, but I'm categorically opposed to fruit juice mucking up my high-sodium vegetable beverages.
I watched the movie by myself abot a month ago and three days later still couldn't find anyone who'd seen it, so I had no outlet for discussion. I'm glad you wrote this so I can say: I vascillated between you and AO Scott's perception of Bert and Verona most of the time.
I couldn't decide which camp they fell into, so I might not have enjoyed the film as much as I would have if I'd been more easily able to figure out their motivation or whatever. (I'm a little bit of a control freak and REALLY like to know 100% and completely what's going on AT ALL TIMES.)
Anyway, I hope we can at least all agree that Allison Janney stole every scene she was in.
Oh, and I should clarify that I didn't LIKE Allison Janney's character or the way she treated her husband and children. I just thought she did a great job in the acting department.
I'm definitely with you on the couple's innocence. Not even a hint of superiority that I saw. I didn't enjoy the movie, though.
There's just no chemistry between the two. I liked Verona, but Bert was kind of hard to understand. We weren't really filled in on what he did for work (to my memory), and it was difficult to tell if he was at points trying to be funny or not. I have to say, it's hard not to expect him to be when he's got what we all know to be "the Jim face." Even the beard couldn't cover it up.
I also found the movie just plain boring for the first hour. In fact, it was so dispassionate in the beginning that my boyfriend walked away.
But I'm glad you got some pleasure from it. Maybe if I was a parent I could have appreciated it more.
I will say that I enjoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal's character. The dinner scene was pretty great.
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