Review: The Way Way Back

While it may not be the most exciting or even original of films, there is something about a good independent Coming-of-Age film that will always draw me in. From the classics of John Hughes, to Terrance Malick's beautifully haunting Badlands to the more recent The Wackness and Adventureland, these films are able to perfectly capture the highest highs and lowest lows of being a teenager and finally finding your place in the world. 

Following the traditions of this genre, The Way Way Back certainly isn't the most original premise, yet it's held together by a nice script, a brilliant cast, and a feeling, even in its darkest moments, that everything is going to turn out alright. Written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, (otherwise known as Community's dressing up fanatic Dean Pelton) who won Best Screenplay at the Oscars for The Descendants, a film which similarly managed to mix sad revelations with moments of pure joy, (although in my humble opinion, The Way Way Back is by far the better film) the film follows 14 year old Duncan as he is dragged on holiday with his mother and her all-round awful new boyfriend (Toni Collette and Steve Carrell, novices of the indie film after Little Miss Sunshine) but manages to find joy through a job in a run-down local water park. If you're thinking that this premise sounds very similar to 2009's Adventureland, then you would not be wrong, however while Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart's romance is a major plot point in the latter, The Way Way Back puts young love more to one side, choosing instead to focus on Duncan's relationship with the park's boss, Owen.

What really sets this film above others and in the same league as other indie hits such as Little Miss Sunshine and Juno (coincidentally, all three films were released by the same studio) is its cast. Carrell and Collette may be billed above the others, but Sam Rockwell is, as usual, the real star, absolutely stealing every scene he is in, flicking between boyish humour, and a caring, more fatherly side as he takes Duncan under his wing. But that's not to discredit the rest of the cast - Carrell is absolutely loathsome, a rare role for one of Hollywood's leading men, but he plays it well. Toni Collette and Maya Rudolph are likeable and natural as ever in their roles, even when they are forced to nag and whine about the immature men that they are with. And Liam James is so understated and toe-curlingly awkward as Duncan that you begin to wonder whether he is really acting. 

It is unlikely that The Way Way Back will be lauded the best film of the year by critics. Nor does it seem likely that it will be rewarded at next year's Oscars. But regardless of this, it is the sort of film that will undoubtedly go on the live the same kind of legacy as the sunshine-filled, bittersweet indie films that it has been compared to. And quite rightly too.

Grace Barber-Plentie