Here’s another one for the “I’ve never heard of that movie” file – The Way Way Back. If you’re not familiar with it, you might want to be, both for the great gob of talent that stars in it and the script full of humor and heart that they have to work with.
I loved this movie for lots of reasons, but one in particular stands out: Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell have finally traded places. Steve is the bad guy you want to chop up and bury in the backyard, and Sam is the good guy you want to bring home and put up in the spare room. Usually it’s the other way around.
Of course it’s always a pleasure to see Toni Collette and Allison Janney, the latter of whom has a fantastic time playing the local lush. She’s a hoot, her quips are quick, and I’d happily see the movie again just to catch all her funny lines. It’s also great to see Maya Rudolph taking a serious turn. (Did you know that she’s the daughter of the late Minnie Riperton? For some reason, I find that fact fascinating.)
As you’ve no doubt surmised, The Way Way Back is bursting with colorful characters, including the two guys who are responsible for the screenplay and the direction: Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. They may look like ordinary fellas in this movie, but don’t be fooled by their water-park-losers act. These dudes also wrote the screenplay for George Clooney’s 2011 hit, The Descendants – and won an Oscar for their trouble.
But the movie and its magic truly belong to Liam James, the teen who plays the leading man/boy, a sad-sack named Duncan who’s getting dragged along for the ride. It’s Duncan who is relegated to the very back of the family station wagon – you guessed it – the way way back. But could that phrase possibly have a double meaning in the context of this movie? Hmm, someone should probably look into that . . .
Posted by Holly "Double Feature" Joplin 
Movie Reviews for Mere Mortals 