If you have just casually stumbled on this review by whatever means, there is a good chance that you have never heard of this movie. It is not a huge, high-budget Summer blockbuster by any means. What it is is a Sundance Film Festival selection that opened in limited release a few weeks back. There are lots of movies like this that people living in New York or Los Angeles get the honor of seeing. Since I am not one of those lucky people, I have to wait for these movies to push their way through good word of mouth into a wide release and The Way Way Back did that this past weekend. It's not the best or most original movie you'll ever see, but if you find it in a theater near you, I'd definitely recommend you give it a shot. It's worth your money.
The Way Way Back is a drama about a young 14 year old boy in a rather sour situation. His parents have been recently divorced and all he wants to do is spend the Summer with his dad. Instead he is forced to go with his mom and her boyfriend to her boyfriend's Summer home and as a quiet, somewhat socially awkward person he doesn't fit into the wild atmosphere around him at all. As an escape, he runs away and finds a water park in the area to hide in. He is quickly noticed by the manager of the water park who takes him in under his wing and is also befriended by a girl next door who is just older than him.
The plot of the movie is fairly predictable, but a great cast really is what makes it work. And for the most part it is a lesser known cast that pulls this off. The huge name in this movie is Steve Carell and honestly I think this is one of the best performances he has done. Although the movie is a drama, it does have a lot of comedy in it. Steve Carell, though, is not one who provides any comedy. He is purely in a dramatic role and I think that fits him best as an actor. His role in the movie is the boyfriend and he is great in a you really hate his character type of way. Our main star in the movie is Liam James, playing the 14 year old Duncan and as his character goes through a lot of progression he does a great job of pulling off the many different emotions he goes through. Stealing the show in my opinion was definitely Sam Rockwell's character Owen, the water park owner who befriends Duncan. He is both super funny and appropriately serious in teaching Duncan some good life lessons. Finally I want to commend the beautiful young actress AnnaSophia Robb (she's almost 20 years old in real life so I'm allowed to say that, even if she does play a teenager) who plays his friend next door.
Overall this is a great drama that has a lot of heart and sould to it. You are invested in Duncan's story and rooting for him to overcome the obstacles placed in front of him. The movie is realistic and is easy for people to relate to. How it ended was a bit of a surprise but after stewing over it for a bit I was really impressed in ways I can't say without spoiling it. Also the lessons that you can take from it are quite inspiring. In the end, I give The Way Way Back a very good 8 out of 10.
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