"Away We Go"

Tonight, I saw a sneak screening of "Away We Go," which was directed by Sam Mendes and written by local literary superstars Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. It's sure to be a hipster hit -- but, unlike so many cloyingly cute indie films of late, this sucker is deftly quirky and strikes just the right balance of humor and melancholy. If this one makes it into to my parents' cultural consciousness, I will not roll my eyes.

What made me fall for the film, though, is its unusual and offbeat portrayal of love. Understand that I don't like romantic comedies. I'm typically the one going: "But I don't understand what their connection is! Why do they love each other?" That wasn't the case with this film. It speaks a language of love that you won't find in an ad for DeBeers, Godiva or Flowers.com. It's singular, unique and attainable. It's a story of two separate people on a journey together, rather than one person on a journey to the other or two conjoined people on a journey to themselves. 

It certainly didn't hurt that the lead actors, Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, stepped off the screen and into the theater as the credits rolled. OK, so they actually walked from the back to the front of the theater, but it was as though the very real characters they had brought to life on-screen, and who left every person in my row sniffling, were standing right in front of us. Along with Mendes, Vida and Eggers, they answered all sorts of questions volleyed from the audience -- about everything from the awkwardness of filming the opening oral sex scene to shaping the soundtrack. 

I might see movies in the theater more than a couple times a year if they were all followed by a chat with the creatives. Is that too much to ask? And while you're at it, Hollywood, can't all movies be this good?