Away We Go, Sam Mendes (director)

So. My pregnancy with my first child may have been 24 years ago, yet most of the worries and anxieties remain fresh in my soul. Will I be a good enough parent? Will I guide this child to an adulthood beyond the cubicle? Will this pregnancy make me old and ugly? Will my marriage survive parenthood? Will I survive motherhood? I'm glad to report that the answers are Yes, Yes, Yes, No, and Yes.

Mendes' Away We Go captures these questions from the perspective of today's 30-somethings. Not quite fuck-ups, but certainly not carving out middle-class American lives, Verona and Bert search for the perfect place--and by implication--the perfect mode in which to raise their soon-to-be-born daughter. As they travel about the country, checking out locales, family, and friends, we're treated to great comic moments, usually at the expense of caricatures representing parenting extremes. But just as we begin to feel uncomfortably smug, we're asked to sympathize with those who face the sadder side of parenting, the loss and disappointment that's magnified when parents care so much and try so hard.

And like any good travel film featuring a pregnant woman, the story ends with a heavy dose of sentimentality.

Thus, three Ss--smugness, sympathy, and sentimentality--tie this film together for a nice summer treat.

Recommended.