Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Starring Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, AnnaSophia Robb

Grade: B+

Story-telling conventions exist for a reason: they work. It’s pretty simple. We don’t gripe about clichés because they are inherently terrible, our ire comes from the fact that we’ve seen them too many times, presented in the same way, and our brain no longer is able to feel empathy or excitement. Modern movies, mainly of the independent nature, tend to spend a good deal of their efforts turning those conventions on their head, flipping them in some new direction so we can applaud them for their originality and we the viewers can pat ourselves on the back because we’re free thinkers and not slave to the Hollywood machine. The Way Way Back takes a different approach. Instead of twisting things around, the film instead chooses to remind us why those familiar tropes worked in the first place. Why we eternally seem to identify with the socially awkward, displaced teenager, why we want to befriend the older, eccentric loser who just may be the wisest man in the room, and why parental authority is just the worst.

The plot follows shy kid Duncan (Liam James) as he goes on summer vacation with his mother (Toni Collette) to her dickish boyfriend’s beach house. Duncan would rather be with his dad, but for reasons we immediately understand better than he does that is not going to happen. Mom’s boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell) is an alpha male type and seems to be constantly establishing his dominance over Duncan, who in refusing to play the ridiculous mind game loses by default. Also along for the ride is Trent’s bitchy daughter (Zoe Levin) who is self-absorbed in that painful way that kids with self-absorbed parents are. The adults party, “it’s like spring break for adults” says Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), the hot girl next door who inexplicably seems to be drawn to Duncan, and the miserable young man feels completely isolated from his family. In an attempt to escape, Duncan visits a local water park where he befriends the manager Owen (Sam Rockwell) who hires him. Owen is the kind of person that can only exist in the movies. He’s aimless, but smarter than he has any right to be and seems to have some sort of natural understanding of human behavior. He’s clearly got his own problems but he never projects them onto anybody else, instead only exists to help our young protagonist through his journey. As you would guess, Duncan learns to stand up for himself and gains the all important self-esteem because of his time at a job any sane person would deem shitty and soul-suckingly awful.

James brings a pure awkwardness to this role. The physicality alone is good acting, as Duncan constantly hunches over in that way that tall kids with no self-esteem tend to do. Being tall takes a certain level of confidence and when you don’t have it, you hide your size in an effort to not be noticed (I know this for all too personal reasons). His attempts at conversation with anybody at all are painful as he has no mastery whatsoever of social cues. The stand out performance is Sam Rockwell’s Owen though. He takes a character we’ve all seen a hundred times but delivers it so naturally that it feels fresh somehow. We buy his character probably because he’s the guy we’d really like to be hanging out with ourselves, and understand Duncan’s draw to him. The supporting cast is strong and littered with familiar faces. Rob Corduroy, Amanda Peet, a hilarious Allison Janney and the always dependable Maya Rudolph all lend this movie credibility where it otherwise would probably lack.

Steve Carell as Trent, though, is a failing of this movie. I get that he’s a dick, but does he have to just be a complete piece of shit? There’s not really a lot of depth to him other than that he’s a car salesman and he’s exactly what you’d expect a car salesman who’s dating your mother to be like. Carell doesn’t do a bad job with it exactly, it’s just kind of a frustrating character. The other weak point is Susanna’s interest in Duncan. The friendship I buy, as they’re both struggling with new family situations that more or less suck and they feel isolated, but the romance feels forced and unnecessary. Duncan’s victory should be that he made a friend and was able to communicate with a hot girl, but there’s no way she’d actually be attracted to him. He’ll get the girl later in life, but for now, let’s just stick with being able to have a conversation about something other than the weather.

The Way Way Back is corny and sappy and it knows it. I suppose it’s probably impossible to not watch this movie with some degree of cynicism nowadays as we’re all terribly jaded, but if you can get past that curmudgeony part of yourself, watch this movie and enjoy it. It hits all the right, if incredibly familiar, notes.