In honor of it being summer again, I thought I'd post a review of a new summer film. While lying in bed with the flu, I discovered this flick, which had somehow escaped my knowledge.
The Way Way Back is the story of Duncan, a moody adolescent. He and his mother (Toni Collette) are spending the summer in an New England beach town with her boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell) and his obnoxious daughter who wants nothing to do with Duncan. With no friends around and a conflicted relationship with his father, Duncan hates his life. He doesn't see any way for things to get better, but one day he chances across a small amusement park where he finds a friend in the manger. Owen (Sam Rockwell ) is an arrested adolescent who takes the lonely Duncan under his wing. Working at the park provides Duncan with just the escape he needs, but meanwhile, new problems are constantly brewing back home. Although he resents his mother for bringing him on the vacation in the first place, his relationship with Trent is bad and as he learns more about the man, it only gets worse. The cute girl next door, though (AnnaSophia Robb), keeps things interesting.
This is actually a very enjoyable movie up until the very end. Most of the cast is very good. Seeing Steve Carrell as a lazy jerk was different, but he pulled it off alright. Most of the cast is good, including Allison Janney who gives a screen stealing performance as a loud, divorcee neighbor. The movie is well acted and primarily well written, but the ending left me so disappointed. On the whole, though, it's not a bad film by any means, just not one that left me satisfied.
2.5 Stars.
