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Away We Go is the latest in the series of movies that feature hand drawn stylized graphics, other notable examples being Juno and (500) Days of Summer.



Let Strongbad educate you on the significance of hand drawn images in movies.

Besides the visual similarities, the movies also share many common themes among them and have all had the phrase ‘a rom-com with a difference’ appended obtrusively on a promotional picture in a newspaper at some point.

I feel like Juno exposed a niche market for quirky romantic comedies and left in its wake a pair of dauntingly big shoes to fill. This year we have Away We Go.

Pregnancy is in again and the unrealistically attractive characters of (500) Days of Summer are replaced with the more relatable John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, in fact someone thought it would be better if John grew a beard to obscure any trace of that youthful good looks.

The movie follows the couple of Verona and Burt as they make their way across America in search of a place to settle down and raise a family, Verona six months into her pregnancy but looking like she’s in her eighth.
They having decided that it would be best to live near friends or family.

And what friends and family they have! Everyone they encounter in their journey are maladjusted, undergoing some personal tragedy or are borderline psychotics. And the strange thing is Burt and Verona are always surprised.

The disjointed plot is tremulously held together by Krasinski’s charm transposed almost wholesale from his character in The Office. Burt could easily be an older, more jaded Jim with a beard, although in some instances he is more like Dwight. Maya Rudolph is the stoic pregnant girlfriend who tolerates her clownish boyfriend with all the patience in the world while still carrying the emotional baggage of her parents death years ago. Verona is definitely not the fun, energetic, wide-eyed innocent of Juno.

Needless to say, there is a happy ending, although it might seem a little forced and stilted scene leading up to it felt more like a synopsis of everything that preceded it.

See, the main reason why Juno was a good movie was that it had a lot of heart, clichéd as that sounds. Away We Go attempts to have heart but made the mistake of removing the youthful exuberance of Juno and having the impregnator attempt at having a sense of humour. It may also be in Juno’s favour that it depicted the sweet, innocent, passionate start of a romance instead of the flickering, smoldering embers of its midpoint.

While we have established that Away We Go is no Juno, it is also certainly not (500) Days of Summer. One wonders if the latter was really an appropriate title, not only is it pointlessly clumsy (I cannot imagine what the parenthesis is for other than to make it harder to type) it is also a dreary and tedious movie. (500) Days of Winter with No Heating more like.

Tom is a pathetic loser and Summer is disinterested and cold. They do not deserve the frustratingly attractive bodies that house them, a lot like real life actually. And unless I’m really out of touch, the public opinion on Paris Hilton has not improved. How are we supposed to like these people?

At least Burt and Verona are likeable.

So Away We Go is somewhere stuck in the middle. If you are itching for this particular brand of romantic comedy, it satisfies. It maybe suffers from being a little similar to Juno, but then if you really like Juno, it’s out on DVD.

If you like to watch hopelessly attractive people with the personalities of cardboard cut outs get their heart broken, watch (500) Days of Summer just remember to skip the last 10 minutes.