"Away We Go" (wikipedia) is a movie directed by Sam Mendes (who also directed "American Beauty" which I really liked, and "Jarhead" which came through on TV recently, as well as "Road to Perdition"). It's written by Dave Eggers and his wife Vindela Vida, who amongst other things are known for founding 826 Valencia, a pirate store and writing lab for school students, which has been featured at TED (for which he won a TED prize in 2008). (Thanks to tyellas for making the connection to Dave Eggers for me.)

The movie follows a 30-something couple at a big life event (having a baby) and finding that they've gone off script (his parents are moving from being in the same city in the USA to Europe, so suddenly the free babysitting isn't there). At that point they figure that they could live anywhere, and embark on a tour of North America to try a bunch of cities on for size as seen through the eyes of friends and family that live in those cities. In the process they find a bunch of other people's scripts that they don't want to live, and bits of some that they do. The ending isn't that surprising, but several of the moments of the journey are wonderful. Maggie Gyllenhaal did a wonderful job of playing LN, the "mother with no stroller" (as one of the "one line" characters described her).

As is the modern way, almost all the characters in the movie are in their 30s, and most of them have young children (following the script, although some with more success than others). It's interesting to observe, as is alluded to in the movie, that in my parent's generation by my sort of age they'd often have teenagers not new babies. Yet in my generation many of my friends are only starting to have children (and a few have children old enough to buy alcohol, and still get carded). There's less "following the script" these days, and less collecting the set (marriage, house, children, ISO standard pet). But for all that it's still the cultural background against which other things are measured. Other forms of success are tolerated, but there's still a need for something to point out and call success. Perhaps there always will be.