Dir. Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
103 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Watch Trailer
"On a scale from 1 to 10, what do you think you are? I think you're a 3." The Way Way Back had me from the very beginning, with Steve Carell posing that question to his step-son during a trip to their summer beach house. The film follows an awkward pubescent teenager, Duncan (Liam James), as he's dragged along on vacation with his mother (Toni Collete), sister, and step-dad. Feeling like an outcast every step of the way, he finally finds a home at a job at Water Whizz, a local water park, where he meets the brash and fun-loving Owen (Sam Rockwell). The story may not break whole new ground in the coming-of-age genre, but it was incredibly well written, with plenty of fun and interesting side characters (Allison Janney is a scene stealer as the neighbor who's had her fair share of margaritas before 10am) and some well-earned emotional moments.
I absolutely love the cast here. Liam James is just the right amount of awkward, without acting outright cartoonish and without becoming a "Hollywood" type of awkward (like Andrew Garfield in Amazing Spider-Man). Toni Collete just proves once again she is one of the best film moms ever (her performances The Sixth Sense and Little Miss Sunshine made me both laugh and cry, no different here), and Steve Carell was brilliantly casted against type as the asshole stepfather and shows he has the chops for a villainous role. And to top off the main cast is Sam Rockwell, who is another scene-stealer with plenty of hilarious lines that only he could've pulled off. Reminiscent of a slightly younger Robert Downey Jr, Rockwell does a fantastic job giving his character both unlikable qualities while still being likable enough that he feels like a solid father figure to Duncan.
Of course, the film does fall into some "obvious" tropes that could've either been altered to make it different or just taken out. The love interest was a little forced (of course the hottest young female in the film would fall for the pale, awkward main character), and some of the side characters, like the sister and another couple (Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet), feel more like pieces to move the story along even though their actions are instrumental to the plot. But those are really just slight nitpicks. The Way, Way Back is a wonderful little film that should cure your headache from all these crappy big budget blockbusters this summer.
Rating: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment