Film

In the script for this hipster road movie, Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida balance on the razor’s edge—wacky road-movie clichés on the right, excessively earnest introspection on the left. The former dominates the first half, the latter the second half, and we’re betting that the audience will divide neatly between those who like the crazy characters of the first section and find the second half sappy and unfocused, and those, like this reviewer, who sigh through the zaniness and get a bit of a lump in their throat for the last act.

Verona (Rudolph) and Burt (Krasinski) are having a baby, which sets off worries that they might, as they fret in a memorable exchange, be “fuck-ups.” They’re in their mid-thirties and have no real sense of home, so they set out on a trip to find the right place to raise the kid, visiting Phoenix, where Verona’s sister (Ejogo) lives, Madison, Wisconsin, where Burt’s quirky cousin (Gyllenhaal) lives, and so on. All this is covered in a layer of acoustic guitar and vocals from Alexi Murdoch, who might as well call himself a Nick Drake impersonator. Uncertain of what tone to take, Mendes opts for no tone at all, leaving the actors to find one for themselves. That on top of finding a new home for their unborn child is asking a lot.