The Way Way Back

Written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Way Way Back follows Liam James’ Duncan as he reluctantly accompanies his mother (Toni Collette’s Pam) and her boyfriend (Steve Carell’s Trent) on a beachfront summer vacation – with the movie detailing the acceptance Duncan eventually finds among a group of off-the-wall water-park employees (including Sam Rockwell’s irreverent Owen and Maya Rudolph’s maternal Caitlin). There’s certainly nothing fresh about the shopworn premise and yet The Way Way Back ultimately manages to establish itself as a charming little effort, with the strong performances going a long way towards compensating for the various deficiencies within Faxon and Rash’s far-from-flawless screenplay. It’s worth noting, however, that the film does suffer from an almost off-puttingly quirky opening half hour, as Faxon and Rash have peppered the supporting cast with idiosyncratic figures that can be awfully tough to stomach – with Allison Janney’s loopy Betty standing as the most obvious and egregious example of this. The inclusion of several down-to-earth moments in the film’s midsection proves effective at luring the viewer into the decidedly slow-paced proceedings, and there’s little doubt that the movie’s sullen protagonist is slowly-but-surely transformed into a wholeheartedly sympathetic figure – although, by that same token, it’s clear that Rockwell’s Owen remains the most entertaining and engaging element within The Way Way Back (ie the actor is as charming and affable as ever). Faxon and Rash’s perpetually conventional sensibilities, however, prevent the film from becoming anything more than a passable piece of work, as the narrative has been suffused with excessively hoary plot developments that grow more and more problematic as time progresses. It is, as such, not terribly surprising that the feel-good finale doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch that the first-time filmmakers were surely shooting for, which does, in the final analysis, cement The Way Way Back‘s place as a perfectly watchable yet all-too-forgettable coming-of-age comedy.

**1/2 out of ****