Away We Go

There are a multitude of roads to take on a journey through life. Some highly traveled, others, less so. Good roads and bad. What works for some people does not work for others. The problem is society puts the pressure of conformity on individuals starting at a very young age. There is a standardized American dream that is purported to be the goal of all warm-blooded Americans. It is a nice dream that in reality cannot be made to fit each or any of us. Growing up with this prevailing ethos, it is difficult to see the absurdity of it all. That is why we need an outsider to point out the flaws in the mystique and to help point us in differing directions; an outsider such as English-born director Sam Mendes.

In 1999’s American Beauty and 2008’s Revolutionary Road, Mendes did his best to obliterate the American dream. With Away We Go, he is intent on finishing off any remaining vestiges of the dream. He accomplishes this task rather effectively, setting the stage to rebuild the dream without the clichés that it was built upon. The obliteration comes on a cross country trip an expectant couple, Burt and Verona, (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) take to find a place to call home for the start of their family. The family and friends they seek as the archetype of marital bliss are clichés in and of themselves and often times a disaster at the game of life. Where once the couple questioned if they are fuck-ups, the realization comes that everyone is a fuck-up; the road to happiness will have to be forged on Burt and Verona’s own terms.

The road they take leads to a wide open future with no certainty. Burt and Verona can only wish the path they have taken will lead to happiness, the only thing any of us can wish for. Despite what we are led to believe, there is no American dream that can be followed; we as humans are far too different. Mendes has spent his career tearing the belief in a common dream to pieces; in Away We Go he lays the groundwork to begin rebuilding. Taking divergent paths may feel alienating but they are necessary. Through these treks of individuality we find our own way and discover the differences between us all are indeed held together by a common string.