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“The Way Way Back” is a standard issue coming-of-age comedy with flashes of inspired humor. Witness everything that Allison Janney does with her supporting role as a middle-aged floozy named Betty.
14-year-old Duncan (Liam James) ambivalently anticipates a tedious beachside summer vacation with his divorced mom Pam (Toni Collette) and her piece-of-work boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell). During the ride in Trent’s station wagon, Carell’s slimy character sets the tone for the movie when he asks Duncan how he rates himself on a scale from 1 to 10. “A six,” Duncan replies after some blank thought. Trent corrects him: “You’re really more of a three.”
Granted, Duncan hasn’t yet begun to come out of his shell. Trent’s denigrating behavior is the kind of over-the-top shenanigan to which sons of divorced moms are subjected to when the moms aren’t the best judges of character. Fortunately for Duncan, there’s a cute girl (delightfully played by AnnaSophia Robb) who lives next door to the house in which he’s staying with his piecemeal family unit. Trent has brought along his own teenage daughter, who treats Duncan with even less respect than her old man.
A kinder and funnier father figure for Duncan comes along in the guise of Owen (Sam Rockwell), the slacker manager of a local water park called — get this — the Water Wizz. Owen takes one look at Duncan and immediately assesses what the kid needs to build some self esteem. Owen innocently razzes Duncan after giving him a job to come to everyday — even if you could hardly call toiling at a water park work when it’s in the company of Sam Rockwell.
“The Way Way Back” makes no pretense to be anything other more than a movie targeted to a teen audience in need of some commiseration for the crappy way many get treated by their parents and their ridiculous mating partners. The comedy achieves these modest goals, and that’s all it needs to accomplish. Here is a low-key, personal movie that might help a few depressed teenagers get through an otherwise joyless summer. That’s a valuable thing.
Rated PG-13. 103 mins.
