Review of The Way Way Back (2013) by Jason S — 15 May 2014
Screenwriting champs Rash and Faxon have come up with the supremely feel good smarts yet again with their follow up to their Oscar-winning screenplay The Descendants. This time around they also take on directorial duties as well with solid results.
They easily find an effortless charm in their characters and mine plenty of warmth and humour from the narrative. Certainly helps they've managed to gather the perfect ensemble cast; all of whom manage to play second fiddle to the wonderfully awkward performance from James as the disillusioned young Duncan.
Collette and Carrell tend to come off a little more caricature-ish, but an as-usual underrated performance from a scene-stealing Rockwell is excellent. For fans of Rash and Faxon's Academy Award winning Clooney led dramedy, this by comparison will feel much more slight thanks to its overly familiar coming of age plot.
They do struggle to attempt anything fresh with the genre here, and often tend to distractingly hesitate around larger, deeper backstories stories on marriage and family breakups. Thankfully, these blemishes are very transparent.
It may not be as polished as their Oscar winning effort, but their usual combination of measured laughs and relateable family drama here will keep this firmly in the viewers good books and certainly make you want to come back for more.
This review of The Way Way Back (2013) was written by Jason S on 15 May 2014.
The Way Way Back has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
