I feel like I've been in a cave: Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida wrote a screenplay for a film that was directed by Sam Mendes? That's kind of a big deal.

The film, "Away We Go," is due out June 5. It stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as a longtime couple who are going to have a baby, but whose world is turned on its ear when Krasinski's parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) reveal that they're moving out of the country, thus taking away the couple's reason for living where they do. This sets the pair off on what looks to be a standard road movie.

Given the film's provenance, it will surely be a big deal. The marketing, complete with cut-and-paste photos and hand-lettered titles, feels like an indie-film greatest hits, conjuring everything from "Rushmore" to "Juno." Who stands to benefit most from all of this? Alexi Murdoch, please stand up.

The Scottish singer's songs make up the bulk of the soundtrack, his pleasant folk-rock clearly a nice way to undergird the story's more heartfelt moments. Most of the songs are drawn from Murdoch's debut, Time Without Consequence, with three previously unreleased tracks sweetening the mix. They are joined by tracks from George Harrison ("What Is Life"), The Stranglers ("Golden Brown"), Bob Dylan ("Meet Me In The Morning") and the Velvet Underground ("Oh! Sweet Nuthin’").

Murdoch's music was heard in the film "Garden State" -- though not on the soundtrack -- one of the best examples of music use in film propelling an act commercially. In that case it was the Shins, another pleasant pop act. Could Murdoch see similar benefits? It's likely. His music seems tailor made for this use, the film will expose hundreds of thousands of people to it and the soundtrack gives them an easy way to sample his wares.

MP3: "All My Days"

Labels: movies, music