Away We Go

Don't let anyone spoil the secrets in this delicate dazzler. See it and then start talking. You will. The pregnant Verona (Maya Rudolph), a medical illustrator of mixed race, loves Burt (John Krasinski), a white guy who sells insurance, but she doesn't want to marry him — bad family histories. "Do you think the baby will be dark like you?" Burt's mom (Catherine O'Hara) asks blithely. Burt and Verona take to the road, visiting friends in search of a place not to be lost in America. Director Sam Mendes deftly follows the twists in the tartly funny and achingly tender script by novelists Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Rudolph, a comic force on SNL, can speak volumes with the tilt of an eyebrow. She and Krasinski, of The Office, are absolutely extraordinary. Ditto the film, which sneaks up and floors you.

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