I’ve seen it twice now, so I’m confident in my opinion that the small indie film, “The Way, Way Back,” really is worthwhile. There are no car chases, robots or special effects, but there are authentic portrayals of heroes and villains, of complicated, imperfect people, and memories of a summer when an awkward 14 year old finds his groove in a sweet and unexpected way.
Set in a Massachusetts beach town, full of summer tourists, the film begins with a glum kid sitting all the way in the back (hence the title) of a pristine Buick station wagon, His Mom (Toni Collette) is asleep in the front. Driving the big boat is her snarky, insincere boyfriend, played by Steve Carrell. The kid’s name is Duncan (Liam James) but the Carrell character only refers to him as “buddy.” Hating your Mom’s boyfriend at age 14 is a nightmare, and it looks like their summer long vacation will be the 7th circle of Hell for the poor teen.
But after a couple of days of misery and wonderfully colorful characters (this movie’s deep bench in the casting department is its greatest strength) Duncan swipes a girl’s bike out of the shed and goes riding. He finds a waterpark and after hanging out their for a few days, is befriended by the park manager, played with a perfect tone by Sam Rockwell. The friendship leads to a summer job for Duncan, which in turn leads to several nice turns which I will leave to you to discover. The film gently lets the story unfold and is patient with its characters who don’t have any fake epiphanies or over night personality changes–no, this movie allows the evolution of the characters to be subtle and, ultimately, moving.
Nat Faxon and Jim Rash wrote and directed the film, and they each play water park employees, as well. They have written a realistic story that is populated by authentic characters–people you may have known in your own life, for better or worse.
It’s a 4 out of 4 Stars movie for me. You can watch the featurette below to get a better glimpse.
Kyle, your recommendation sent me to see this one and I am glad I did…..I really loved it! All the actors gave stellar performances! I cried and I cheered and I WILL see it again because it was so real!
Heather
Heather, I am so glad! Don’t you love it when you find out about something sort of “word-of-mouth”? Thanks for letting me know.
ko
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Its almost a must to stand up and cheer good coming of age films as they are such delicate structures to build that failure is the norm and success the rarity. Very nice this!