“The Way, Way Back” marks the directorial debut of the Oscar-winning writing team of “The Descendants” – Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. The two also co-wrote this screenplay and have small roles in the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. While it’s not nearly as compelling as the 2011 George Clooney drama, “The Way, Way Back” has a simple, likeable charm.
16-year-old Liam James (TV’s “Psych”, “The Killing”) stars as Duncan. He’s a shy, 14-year-old who’s forced to go on summer vacation with his divorced mother Pam (Toni Collette) and her new boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) at Trent’s vacation home in Massachusetts. In the opening scene, we immediately learn that Trent is not a very nice guy, as he insults Duncan, calling him a “3” on a scale of 1 to 10. Duncan would clearly rather be with his father, who’s starting his life over with a new woman in San Diego.
Bored around the grown-ups, Duncan decides to venture around town and stumbles upon the Water Wizz water park. He begins to form a friendship with the park’s light-hearted yet sensitive manager, Owen (played by Sam Rockwell). He gets Duncan a job at the park for the summer. And for the rest of the film we witness the highs and lows of this important time in Duncan’s life, as he learns about life, deals with first-love and some emotional family issues.
For a small, indie film “The Way, Way Back” boasts an all-star cast. That’s important because this is a performance-driven movie. Carell may be one of the most versatile actors working today. Always reliable for laughs, and great with voices (“Despicable Me 2”), he showed his dramatic side in the powerful “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”. And now here Carell is flat-out nasty and it’s impressive to watch. James is equally convincing as Duncan. His best scenes are with the perfectly-cast Rockwell and the always enjoyable AnnaSophia Robb, who we’ve watched grow-up on screen the past 10 years. She plays Susanna, Duncan’s friend and possible love interest.
Some of the humor in “The Way, Way Back” is a little mainstream for an indie. Allison Janney is too over-the-top as the bubbly next-door neighbor, and there’s too much time spent on the subplot of her and her son with a lazy eye. The supporting cast also includes Maya Rudolph as a co-worker at Water Wizz, and Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet, who play a couple that Pam and Trent are friends with.
There isn’t much in the script that’s new or surprising. Faxon and Rash actually borrow a few elements from “The Descendants”‘ screenplay. And their direction is a little choppy: some moments seem rushed while other scenes go on much longer than they should have. At times, we get some truly “raw” moments, but there aren’t enough of those. However, the ending works very well.
“The Way, Way Back” is rated PG-13 for language, adult references and brief drug use. It’s appropriate for teens and up. This film isn’t groundbreaking or an Oscar-contender (outside of a possible Original Screenplay nomination, because who knows how few of those we’ll end up having by the end of the year). But it is engaging and a nice alternative to the barrage of blockbusters.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Way, Way Back” gets a B-.