Film review: Teenage kicks in The Way Way Back
Kevin Kwong
THE WAY WAY BACK
Starring: Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Steve Carell
Director: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Category: IIA
This character-driven comedy drama written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash is a heartwarming tale of a painfully shy teenage boy who, during a summer break in an American seaside town, finds courage and confidence through the people he meets.
What makes particularly enjoyable and entertaining is the fact that it's packed with vignettes that remind us of the issues many of us faced when we were growing up.
Duncan (Liam James) is an introverted 14-year-old who reluctantly goes on a "family holiday" with his mother Pam (Toni Collette), her new boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) and his rebellious daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). The trip is made all the more excruciating as Duncan, Trent and Steph don't get along.
Still too young to be angst-filled, our protagonist resorts to accepting his fate in sulky silence. However, things start to look up when Duncan meets Owen (Sam Rockwell), a wacky attendant at a local water park who soon recruits him as a summer helper.
With a beautiful score by Rob Simonsen, which helps move the narrative along, is full of pleasant surprises, not least from the excellent ensemble. James is superb and convincing, while Carell sheds his usual goofy onscreen persona to take on a less likeable role. From the opening scene, Trent's overbearing and confrontational attitude towards Duncan spells trouble ahead.
Collette gives an understated but moving performance as the emotionally fragile Pam, constantly torn between her own interests and her son's, while Rockwell's Owen is a wild man-child himself who has yet to find his path in life. Where he stands up to the increasingly menacing Trent to protect Duncan makes him a believable real-life hero.
The real fun, though, comes from all the supporting roles: Faxon, Rash and Maya Rudolph as Owen's water park colleagues brighten up the screen with their deadpan acting and one-liners, along with Duncan's next door neighbour - the divorced and drunk Betty (Allison Janney) and her precocious daughter Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb).
(referring to the distant past and memory) paints an adult world through the eyes of a teenager. The film stirs memories of our own socially awkward years.
A relatively low-budget film that premiered at this year's Sundance Festival, the genial and unassuming went on to win the Feature Film and audience awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival.
opens on December 5
