The Way, Way Back (2013)

I believe every movie fan has a weakness for at least one type of film, and for me that might be the coming-of-age comedy about an awkward white boy with brown hair. Why is this? I can’t possibly think of any reason. Nope, not one. Regardless, even if such a film is objectively bad there’s a good chance I’ll find a way to get invested in all the clichés. This is certainly true of The Way, Way Back, an utterly normal comedy about one such boy who is forced to spend a summer stuck in a New England vacation home with his mother, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s daughter. The movie spends much of its time going down the checklist of coming-of-age conventions, and whenever it is forced to deal with the plot it often amounts to a whole lot of nothing. Whenever it throws all that out and decides to just watch the characters hang out, the film’s modest charms start to reveal themselves.

Our hero is Duncan (Liam James), whose divorced mother (Toni Collette) has been dating the obnoxious Trent (Steve Carell) for about a year. Duncan and Trent have developed an antagonistic relationship, though Trent would say he’s just trying to give the boy the kick in the pants he needs to come out of his shell. While spending the summer in Massachusetts, Duncan starts to have feelings for his neighbor Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), the daughter of the usually drunk Betty (Allison Janney). Meanwhile, in his quest to get as far away from his messed-up family as possible, he starts helping out at the theme park Water Wizz, which is managed by the laid-back Owen (Sam Rockwell).

The water park stuff is easily the most entertaining part of the movie, as that’s when it usually drifts into the aforementioned “hang out” mode. Rockwell is fun as always, but he’s just one part of great ensemble that includes Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry, and writer/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Everyone onscreen is terrific, and there’s a great deal of fun to be had watching the cast interact. Unfortunately, Faxon and Rash have some character arcs to deal with, and that’s when The Way, Way Back drifts into frustratingly obvious territory. Most disappointing is the handling of any Trent-related material. He comes off as a jerk almost immediately—thanks to an opening scene in which he brutally criticizes Duncan—but for a while he at least seems like a well-intentioned jerk. He wants to be part of Duncan’s family, but he just goes about it the wrong way. One could even argue that Duncan’s behavior is just as off-putting in the early going.

Then, just like everything else in this movie, Faxon and Rash decides to make it real obvious who the audience is supposed to root for. It would have been much more interesting if the film presented that relationship with some sort of ambiguity, but instead it throws in a development that eliminates any shades of grey that once existed. From that point on, The Way, Way Back goes into autopilot and never looks back, and most of the storylines are wrapped up far too neatly. This is especially true of the Duncan/Susanna relationship as well, which has potential but is never really given any time to breathe. Around halfway through it becomes clear that Faxon and Rash have no interest in challenging or surprising the audience. They’ve made a slight, simple film that is still mostly agreeable despite the abundance of familiarity. There’s plenty to like but little to love.

Grade: B-