'Away We Go': A low-key comedy with laid-back charm

Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), a 30-something couple expecting a baby, are on a road trip, pausing for the night at a quiet Southwest hotel. They sit alone by the pool, a calm island in the evening coolness. "You're my light, Verona. My sky," says Burt.

It's a sweet moment in a movie filled with them; this couple, like few we see on screen, seem to complete each other; they shine best in each other's light. "Away We Go," directed by Sam Mendes and written by novelists Dave Eggers ("A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius") and Vendela Vida, is the story of Burt and Verona's search for a home. They've been drifting through their lives, working none too hard at jobs that don't particularly interest them, and now the upcoming baby has made them seek some permanence. Should they settle near family, or near friends? How will becoming parents change the way they live, or the way they feel about each other?

Mendes ("Revolutionary Road," "American Beauty") has made a rarity for him: a low-key comedy with its lead characters displaying an ambling, laid-back charm. Unfortunately, Eggers and Vida's screenplay doesn't seem to trust that charm, surrounding Burt and Verona, on their road trip, with a parade of shrill stereotypes. Maggie Gyllenhaal is funny but over the top as a mother who obsessively practices "continuum parenting" and lectures about the evils of strollers; Allison Janney shrieks her way through the role of a vulgar, loud friend of Verona's (though it's hard to believe these two ever connected).

It's in the quiet moments that "Away We Go" comes together: the unspoken communication between Verona and her sister (Carmen Ejogo), both still grieving the parents they lost years ago; the heartbreakingly sad smile of a college friend (Melanie Lynskey) who's thrilled for Verona yet can't help contrasting her own infertility; the way that Burt and Verona instinctively know, by the end, exactly where to go. "All we can do is be good for this baby. We don't have control over much else," Verona tells Burt. They have, together, found home at the end of the road.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com