Review: The Way Way Back

Copyright: Fox Searchlight Pictures

The shortest way of describing The Way Way Back would be to say that this movie is a mash-up of Adventureland and Little Miss Sunshine. But, although it is short, it’s also unfair.

Here again we see a dysfunctional family and its single member who finds sanctuary in a band of merry water park employees. Duncan (played by young Liam James), a reclusive 14-year-old, is forced to join his mother and her new boyfriend Trent on a summer vacation in a beach resort town. He despises the obnoxious Trent with a quiet burning rage and at the same time he can’t relate to his daughter or their summertime middle-aged alcoholic friends and neighbors. In despair, he discovers Water Wizz, a local run down water park and his enthusiastic manager, Owen.

There is a lot of heart in this small comedy. The movie presents the anguish that Duncan feels as a real, not-so-funny personality state. He is vulnerable, lonely and in a desperate need for a person to relate to. The grownup in his life, although not malicious or incompetent in any major way, actually do more bad than good when they try to help him.  The park, however, is for Duncan a place where he can become everything he wants to become. Water Wizz is freedom, inside and outside.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash directed this movie. This is the first time this duo directed anything (if I can trust their IMDb resumes), and they did more than a decent job. Both of them also have roles as the offbeat water park workers, and Lewis, the character that Rash plays. He executed his role perfectly, and that’s why he deserves a slightly bigger acting badge than Faxon. Of course, Sam Rockwell is once again fantastic as the weird and noisy but good-natured park manager. Allison Janney didn’t disappoint as the drunk, bitter divorced mother, while Toni Collette as Duncan’s mom delivered a darker perspective to this story. She isn’t unresponsive to Duncan’s needs and wants, but at the same time tries to secure and protect her own emotional future. Collette presents her in a very tender and believable way. Also, it’s worthy to notice that in this film, Steve Carell made a character that everybody can easily despise.

I wish all the best to the directors and look forward to their future projects. Unlike most modern comedies, it’s not aggressive or provocative. It presents a normal teenager and normal people and situations that surround him. Some are tediously unpleasant, while others are simply hilarious.