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The Way Way Back (2013)

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Frayed Knot Dec 05 2013 08:47 PM

Awkward 14 y/o is not happy to be roped into spending summer vacation on a kind of trial run as a potential blended family as he and his mom (Toni Colette) join her asshat of a boyfriend (Steve Carrell) and his daughter at his beach home. But despite having no interest trying to fit in with the adults, who in general are even more juvenile than him, or with potential step-sis and other older teens who think him too dorky for words, he manages to meet up with some outsiders who help him gain confidence as the vacation drags on. Allison Janney, Amanda Peete, Maya Rundolph, Sam Rockford, AnnaSophie Robb co-star.

themetfairy Dec 05 2013 09:01 PM Re: The Way Way Back (2013)

A good concept and a great cast with mediocre execution. It aspired to be a Little Miss Sunshine but fell short.

Edgy MD Jun 18 2014 09:02 PM Re: The Way Way Back (2013)

I would also compare it to Adventureland, as the narrative turned when the kid entered into the employ of an indifferently operated potential deathtrap of an amusement park. There was also a very evocative sense of the bittersweet amber-preserved timelessness of some beachfront communities. In the beginning, the kid is shown putting earbuds in his ears to listen to music, and later, somebody counts down past years at the beach to suggest that the setting is contemporary, but in most ways it could have been 1985 --- the music, the swimsuit styles, the businesses... . The kid goes to a pizza place and finds a guy playing a coin-op video game, for Pete's sake, and it turns out to be Pac-Man. My main complaint was that the exposition was overdrawn. The dickiness of the boyfriend was so over-the-top hateful, while we seemingly were expected to accept that he was delivering his shit stealthily and was able to fool everybody and himself that he wasn't such a bad guy. And the mean-girls nastiness at the beach, as they all vie for pecking order in the flock at the top of the summer, was real enough in theme, but just un-necessarily heavy handed. Teenage girls are like that, sure, but generally at least try and dance back and forth in pretending they are not. I liked it once the exposition melted away, though. Good turn by Sam Rockwell in a part that's got 31% more depth than the over-broad peripheral characters he usually gets.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 18 2014 09:20 PM Re: The Way Way Back (2013)

Coulda sworn I threaded this one up already Anyhow, would agree parts were good and strongly evocative of summertime teenhood but the thing itself was only okay.

Edgy MD Jun 19 2014 07:21 AM Re: The Way Way Back (2013)

I think there might have been one cell phone in the entire movie --- held, but not used. But that might have been, like, a staff radio that Maya Rudolph's character was using at the park. There were no laptops, and no cups of Starbucks. And Steve Carell's character drove a mint-condition Carter-era Buick family station wagon. It was the first time out for these writer-directors, but they seem to share Wes Anderson's sense of anachronistic shamelessness, coming up with a universe where the world of their youth has never ended.

Vic Sage Jun 19 2014 07:38 AM Re: The Way Way Back (2013)

Totally agree with Edgy's analysis. I may have just liked this more. Growing up in a beach community, it resonated with me. And i liked the Andersonian tone [some folks don't]. Maybe i'm gay for Sam Rockwell. [NTTAWWT]. I just watched MOON and loved that, too.