I'm Still Not Over... Beckett's monologue in 'Away We Go'

Away We Go is a heartwarming comedy that follows a young couple (played by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) as they travel the nation trying to decide where they should live and raise their first child. After coming out in 2009, the film quickly made its way into both my heart and (perhaps more importantly) my DVD collection. From the adorable relationship between Krasinski and Rudolph to the plethora of hilarious guest stars — Allison Janney! Jeff Daniels! Maggie Gyllenhaal! — there isn’t a thing I would change about this film.

Away We Go is full of memorable scenes as the couple hops from state to state visiting “friends” disguised as incredibly quirky people who do things like sleep in the same bed as their children and despise strollers. However, there is one visit in particular that is engrained in my mind (in a good way). In fact, this is one film where I can pinpoint my favorite 56 seconds, which usually isn’t quite so easy.

Right in the middle of all the madness, Rudolph and Krasinski make a stop to visit Rudolph’s sister. While waiting in the lobby of a hotel, the couple runs into a young boy and a woman I assume is his mother. We know nothing about this boy except that his name is apparently Beckett, he wears sweater vests, and his mother is big on testing his vocabulary. After quizzing Beckett on all the plants in the room, Beckett’s mom points to Rudolph’s belly and asks what it is. “Baby” he responds, correctly. But when the mothers asks Beckett to, “Tell the nice lady what you know about babies,” the words that come out of that child’s mouth are, well, watch for yourself:

When I first watched this film, I sat there with my brother as we both had the exact same reaction: A two-second “what just happened?” pause before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. To say that Beckett’s monologue caught me off-guard would be an understatement. But was the shock of it what made it funny, or was it the actual (rather violent) words themselves? Or was it simply Pete Wiggins’ delivery? I’m going with the perfect combination of all of the above. The words, Wiggins’ grin, the surprise … they’re all key ingredients.That being said, the surprise element doesn’t mean the moment loses its comedic impact after watching the film several times, which is why I now have the speech memorized. (Spoiler: It’s not nearly as funny when I say it.)

Regardless, I want to thank the person who decided to place such an unexpected 56-second gem in the middle of this already funny movie, because without this clip, I’m not sure my life would be complete. At the very least, it’d be less funny.

So for now, I vow to never stop loving Beckett, his sweater vests, or his slightly homicidal tendencies. Also, you should watch Away We Go if you haven’t seen it. This kid’s even funnier with context.