The Way Way Back
(2013)
Steve Carrell was on the money when he said the quality that
attracted to him in The Way Way Back was
similar to the one he saw in Little Miss
Sunshine. Both are immensely likeable feel-good indie movies, strong on
quirky characterisation and relatable insights but also equipped with a
slightly superficial fantasy uplift element in their depiction of protagonists
overcoming trials and tribulations. This kind of fare follows something of an
indie dramedy template and The Way Way
Back is well observed, unintrusively directed and populated by some
wonderful performances. But it’s also a wee-bit over-recognisable.
Co-writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have successful
dual careers as comedy performers, and their writing partnership stems from
performing together at comedy club The Groundlings. The script for The Way Way Back had been kicking around since the mid ‘00s, but
only finally went into production following the kudos and Oscar they received
for adapting The Descendants with
Alexander Payne. Payne is hard to beat with this kind of laugh/cry material,
although he hasn’t really tapped the coming of age tale (that’s not really Election). Perhaps he knows how
difficult it is to make a distinct mark on such stories; it would be easy to
shower The Way Way Back with plaudits,
yet it still feels like just another entry in a well-worn genre, complete with
a summer park hearkening back to more louche ‘80s movies (tellingly, it was
originally set in 1984). And Adventureland
(although The Way Way Back is way
better).
Duncan (Liam James) is an inexpressive and reserved teenager
required to attend a Cape Cod summer break with his mother (Toni Collette), her
boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell) and Trent’s daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). He would much rather spend time with his dad,
but is instead stuck with an a prick of a patriarchal figure (Carrell on
sterling unsympathetic form) and a not-sister who can barely tolerate the sight
of him (and who heaps abuse on him when in the company of her friends). Mum Pam
is sympathetic, but she’s trying to fit into Trent’s world and with his loud
and uncouth friends (Allison Janney as sousy gossip Bettty, Rob Corddry and
Amand Peet as couple Kip and Joan). During the trip to there, he’s also had to
content with Trent informing him he is a “3” on a scale of 1 to 10, which
pretty much tells us all we need to know about Trent.
It’s a bleak set up, and we can feel Duncan’s desire to just
want to crawl under a rock and die, beset by inherent adolescent awkwardness
and quite awful adult company. James excels at tongue-tied discomfort, which
means the movie doesn’t have to rely solely on the more experienced supporting performers
to carry it. Eventually Duncan carves out his own niche and comfort zone, when the
manager of the local water park Owen (Sam Rockwell, exuding charisma levels on
a part with the average Sam Rockwell performance) takes him under his wing.
Invited into this company (which includes Faxon and Rash who are both effortlessly
funny, particularly Rash as the balding and beleaguered lost property guy, and
Maya Rudolph as Caitlyn, Owen’s possibly maybe). There is also Betty’s daughter
Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb, currently in Sex
and the City prequel The Carrie
Diaries, but who has been giving note perfect performances ever since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), the
older girl willing to given Duncan the time of day and on whom he develops a
crush.
As such, this strays into fantasy territory unfamiliar to
the typical introverted teenager; the coolest, most outgoing guy (Owen) in
town for some reason takes to you; the more mature girl actually has time for
you (most unlikely of all is her “You
just surprised me” when she recounts why she recoiled from his attempts to
kiss her); it’s wish-fulfilment confectionary with an indie tag, and
recognisable names flock to it as it offers a bit of character meat and substance
in contrast to the big budget bill-payers. The Way Way Back is warm-hearted and
breezy, but it’s also quite shameless in milking its audience (just like Oscar
darling Little Miss Sunshine; this,
as essentially a teen angst movie, was unlikely to reach the same level of exposure).
Carrell, Rockwell and Janney have the showiest roles, and
they just need to be wound up and let loose (I was surprised to hear Rockwell
say this kind of spontaneity doesn’t come naturally, as it’s the way I typically
imagine him from his roles; he also said he was channelling Bill Murray in Meatballs). Carrell in particular, can’t
be underpraised for essaying an unreconstituted prick. Corddry and Peet don’t get much to do other
than behave coarsely, Rudolph is at her most sympathetically lovable, while
River Alexander, as Betty’s other offspring Peter, is sure to win a rash of
exhuberant child parts on the back of this (the sequence in which Owen admires Peter’s
eye patch is a particularly rich exchange, where Alexander actually manages to
wrest the focus from Rockwell).
The Way Way Back
was a Sundance hit, snapped up by Fox Searchlight and went on to be the biggest
commercial success of the screenings there that year. It’s funny, touching and
shrewdly calculated; Faxon and Rash could probably ease full time into writing-directing
on the back of it, should they so wish (next up is The Heart with Kristen Wiig), but I don’t think there’s much danger
of them doing so exclusively given their natural yen for performance.
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