A current trend in films these days is the offbeat dramedy. Colorful, but deep, characters interact with other colorful, but deep, characters revolving around a unique set of circumstance. Add a dash of laughs, some alternative music, and a some quirky dialogue and you get an offbeat dramedy. In this regard it's more a style of film making than a genre. Think of films like Juno or Punch Drunk Love. Either way it's a growing trend, and admittedly a welcome one.
Away We Go is the story of a man (John Krasinski) who gets his gf (Maya Rudolph) pregnant. They're in love but both refuse to believe the place they are at in their lives is ideal to raise a child so they take off an a travelling spree to determine where would be the best place to raise a family. This journey takes them to Phoenix, Tucson, Montreal, and Miami. In each place they have friends of family that they interact with and this produces the drama and comedy in the film. Maggie Gylenhaal is very good as an over-bearing hippy mother who believes in new age practices to parenting. The gorgeous Carmen Ejogo is also very good as Rudolph's sister who's unhappy with the man situation in her life. Allison Janney is brilliantly funny as Rudolph's former boss who has become extremely content with the fact she doesn't need to raise her kids well. These characters and their interactions with our main characters is excellent. In addition, both Krasisnski and Rudolph flex their dramatic muscles and the results are surprising. Rudolph in particular is quite good. Sam Mendes directs the story so well we learn worlds about the supporting actors just by a single line of dialogue or decision they make.
While some people might groan at the prospect of another offbeat dramedy, this is one worth seeing. It does all the things an offbeat dramedy is supposed to do. In my opinion, it's superior to the acclaimed Juno which made a run at the Best Picture Oscar in 2008. Either way it's a film worth seeing and seeing again.
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