"Duncan (Liam James) is an awkward teen who must spend the summer at a beach house with his mother (Toni Collette), her boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and Trent's obnoxious daughter. Trent can't resist badgering Duncan, so the youth steals away to a water park and gets a job that will help him stay off Trent's radar. As Duncan tends to the slides and pools of the ageing park, he finds a father figure in wisecracking park manager Owen (Sam Rockwell) at a time when he desperately needs one."
There is something altogether charming about a great coming-of-age story. It all comes down to the ever-relatable content that can strike a chord with audiences if done correctly. So many coming-of-age films have been done that the genre has largely become stale by going through the same tropes again and again with ever more attractive people in the lead roles, and moving away from what is truly relatable; the average person going through awkward moments.
The Way, Way Back does a really good job of this. Firstly, in its choice of actor for their lead protagonist; the choice of casting Liam James. He does an amazing job, with a lot of emotive facial acting, where the humour and emotion aren't simply conveyed through dialogue. Many youths (even myself right now) were awkward enough to find conversation difficult enough that many of us would not even attempt it and would instead sink back and avoid it at all costs. James does this so well. The second aspect that makes this film work really well is its choice to place so much emphasis on a parental story arc as well. The parent-child dynamic is an important part of the coming-of-age style of film, so to show characters where everyone has flaws, adds to the authenticity of the flick.
From the opening scene, which is only a couple of minutes long, the dialogue between the characters as well as their placement in the scene tells the audience so much about the familial relationships between the characters on-screen. It is such a strong scene, which the film goes full circle to return to at the climax of the film, and while it is disappointing that much attention to detail wasn't consistently applied throughout the film, it still manages to do a great job to instantly set up which side the audience is on.
The parents have an interesting role in the film, almost switching roles with the children, as the kids get jobs and try to be mature about long term emotional commitments, and the adults go about partying it up like they are on spring break. Continually, subverting our expectations, the film places control of the budding summer romance on that of the female character, played by AnnaSophia Robb and she does a splendid job in portraying a down-to-earth girl that is confident in herself and doesn't need a posse of friends to tell her how she should act.
The film is incredibly formulaic in its structure, yet the awkward comedy is so well done that you can look past the basic setup that the film has, and enjoy this flick that truly pulls on the heartstrings.
Sam Rockwell and Maya Rudolph do a great job as workers in the waterpark, with that great mix of youthful exuberance and responsibility, and some reasonable chemistry between them too. Rudolph is her other works can come across rather overbearing and over-the-top but her performance is much more subtle here and the film works better because of it, even though her role was limited.
The real surprise in the film was the casting of Steve Carrell as an antagonist. It's amazing what a spray tan can do to make someone that much easier to dislike. It says a lot about Carrell's acting abilities to be able to take on not only a more serious role but to not be a comedic element at all and convey a performance that makes us forget all of his other roles and think of his character in a negative light. It's amazing how well he pulls off the arrogant, condescending individual.
Despite much of the film taking place at the water park, very little actually happens. Many would consider this a fault in the pacing, but thematically it works really well. The waterpark isn't meant to be the exciting fun park. Its role in the film is simply that of an escape from the family drama, and it pulls it off very well. It accentuates the protagonists need to get away, the waterpark is not the carrot luring him away, the summer bach is the stick driving him away; an important distinction that tonally holds the film together.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this film. It feels slow and nostalgic with bike rides and trips to the waterpark (something I myself used to do quite frequently in my youth). And yet The Way, Way Back manages to create this grounded realistic scenario. There are no big dramatic events. The film is based on subtlety and small actions which eventually bring about a larger significant change, which is still not a huge transformation. The realism is what really draws you in and holds your interest.