Sam Mendes didn't get quite the critical or awards response he might have expected for Revolutionary Road based on the response to American Beauty. But the trailer for his new film, Away We Go, suggests that he's stocked it with powerful weapons. Even though there are shots that look a bit self-conscious and insufferable, like that moment on the moving sidewalk, there's something about the trailer overall that appeals.

Mendes is working from a script by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, and he's lined up an awfully interesting cast. John Krasinski of The Office and Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live both seem to be working outside their usual arenas, Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels are both delightful as a rule, and nothing with Allison Janney in it has ever entirely let me down. (That's the underappreciated comedian Jim Gaffigan with her, by the way.)

It's hard to tell with this kind of "Look at me, I'm quirky!" marketing whether it's going to be quirky like the first half of Juno (bad) or quirky like the second half of Juno (good). But at least it's not another dull assault on the perfection of suburbia, and that in itself is a relief.