Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Allison Janney, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Schneider
Rating: R

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph star as expectant parents searching for the perfect place to raise their child  in Away We Go. (Courtesy photo)

A movie that’s flawlessly executed but contains little substance most often leaves you feeling nothing. A movie filled with problems but has a strong emotional content can often win out over its insufficiencies.

Away We Go is the latter. This gentle road comedy veers from character to caricature depending on which city its journeying protagonists have reached. But for people in their 30s who wonder if they’re adults yet, Away We Go is something of a touchstone.

Verona (Maya Rudolph) is pregnant. She and her dedicated boyfriend Burt (John Krasinski) discover in her sixth month that Burt’s parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara) are moving to Belgium. With no other family members nearby, Verona and Burt decide to leave their rundown shack of a house and find the right place to raise their child. They meet up with Verona’s manic former boss (Allison Janney) in Phoenix, then head to Tucson to see Verona’s sister, Grace (Carmen Ejogo). Then it’s off to Madison to catch up with Burt’s sister-like childhood friend, LN (Maggie Gyllenhaal). There they experience her absurd, ultra-progressive parenting style with partner Roderick (Josh Hamilton). Next comes Montreal, and college friends Tom and Munch (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey). This place feels pretty good, but then Burt gets a call from his brother in Miami (Paul Schneider), and the journey continues.

For Burt and Verona, the search is as much for role models as it is for locations. This makes them somewhat passive heroes in their own adventure, but our dedication to them never falters, thanks to the irresistible performances by Krasinski and Rudolph. These two are marvelous. And all the supporting performances are fun. It’s just that some (Janney, Gyllenhaal, Hamilton) belong in a broad Meet the Parents-style comedy and others (Ejogo, Messina, Lynskey, and Schneider) in a richer, more thoughtful one.

It’s difficult to know how to divide the credit and the blame between director Sam Mendes and writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Well, actually it’s easy to appoint the blame. Eggers and Vida are authors making their first foray into screenwriting. Mendes is a veteran of five major films; it’s his job to find the right balance. He does some very nice things. It’s actually a big step for Mendes that he’s escaped the undercurrent of self-importance tugging at his other movies (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road). His best move may have been the person he placed directly behind the camera: Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Kuras is one of the best at shooting backgrounds so beautiful they enhance the story instead of compete with it.

Over the past decade, Saturday Night Live has arguably produced more great female comedians than males. Maya Rudolph was one of the most detailed, fearless, and hilarious of them all. This is the first time she’s been asked to really act, and the result is just lovely. I want Rudolph to make 20 more movies as quickly as possible so I can keep watching her incredibly expressive face. Yes, there’s a touch of reserve on her part. The exciting thing is that this dynamic performer is so good already, and hasn’t nearly reached her full potential. John Krasinski has charmed the pants off the small screen as Jim on The Office. But his cinematic efforts, License to Wed and Leatherheads, made one wonder if he could fill out the big screen as a leading man. His work here puts that concern to rest. Krasinski’s Burt is a bit too blissfully ignorant to be believed. But when something jolts him into reality we see the depth Krasinski has stored away.

Away We Go seems to be an art-house film only by the smallest of margins. Two very funny stars meeting an array of odd characters? That doesn’t sound like a movie that needs to be relegated to the Kendall Square theater. Is it because mainstream comedies are only supposed to be brightly lit and free of cinematic style? Ideally Away We Go will find the same audience that turned Little Miss Sunshine and Juno into such hits. It’s more than their equal. Away We Go may have a lot less appeal to people on either side of their 30s. Or maybe the search that Verona and Burt are on is still, for all its imperfections, a universal one.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.