After the gloomy Revolutionary Road, director Sam Mendes returns to the quirkiness of American Beauty for this spin on the road movie. Thirtysomething Burt (John Krasinski) and heavily pregnant partner Verona (Maya Rudolph) live near to Burt's parents in Colorado, and assume they'll be around to help with childcare (Verona's parents died while the couple were at college). But when the seniors announce they are moving to Belgium, the rather aimless couple hit the road in search of a new home. Along the way they meet up with various family members and friends, ranging from the slightly individualistic to the positively pantomimic. (Allison Janney is a motormouth former work colleague of Verona's who talks about sex, loudly, in front of her children; Maggie Gyllenhaal is a hippie childhood friend of Burt's, who has very strong beliefs about the right way to raise kids.) The first half of the film is great fun, even if the characterisations are at times overblown. But after a visit to some university pals in Canada, the tone changes, things get serious and the pace slackens. With all the travelling and soul-searching, the dénouement is long in coming and too pat when it does.

Verona and Burt have moved to Colorado to be close to Burt's parents but, with Verona expecting their first child, Burt's parents inexplicably decide to move to Belgium, now leaving them in a place they hate and without a support structure in place. They set off on a whirlwind tour of of disparate locations where they have friends or relatives, sampling not only different cities and climates but also different families. Along the way they realize that the journey is less about discovering where they want to live and more about figuring out what type of parents they want to be.