The Way Way Back

JP Liz V1

Written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and they also co-star with Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell and Toni Collette

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qoaVUdbWMs

Looks quite good with Steve Carell playing against type

JP Liz V1

Looks to getting a release here the 28th of August

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Been looking forward to this one. I love Sam Rockwell.

LCD

Anyone know where/if this is screening?

Basq

LCD wrote: »

Anyone know where/if this is screening?

Yeah, screenings started today.

Airing all around Dublin anyways.

grames_bond

going to see this tonight - looking forward to it!

Zeek12

Anyone seen it? Any reports/recommendation on it yet?
Looks pretty good from the trailer, and seems like an impressive cast

Birneybau

Saw a preview of it a couple of weeks ago, it's alright, no great shakes.

grames_bond

I liiked it! Very enjoyable - with a real little miss sunshine feel to it!

great to see Steve Carell playing something other than his usual comedy shtick - he's a real arseh0le!! :pac:

i would reccommend it!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

grames_bond wrote: »

I liiked it! Very enjoyable - with a real little miss sunshine feel to it!

great to see Steve Carell playing something other than his usual comedy shtick - he's a real arseh0le!! :pac:

i would reccommend it!

Good to know. My mum wanted to see this until she realised Steve Carell was in it, she hates him! I'll have to tell her it's okay to hate him in this one.

johnny_ultimate

Is it possible to say a film is watchable but at the same time sort of hate everything about it? Personally I had that odd, conflicting response. The Way Way Back is a full-on assault of cliches, of barely competent direction, of constant shortcuts (leave it to a montage or a music cue to manage the particularly heavy character development or emotional peaks). It's as cookie-cutter, inoffensive 'indie' as they come - a hodgepodge of other, frequently better films (and also the Summer of 4 ft 2 episode of The Simpsons) with no voice of its own. It's a film that doesn't capture the bittersweet nostalgia of being a teenager, but rather the nostalgia of watching teenagers on cinema screens. Any shades of emotional grey are strictly relegated to the background.

Nonetheless, an utterly charming, funny and charismatic Sam Rockwell manages to give the film the momentum to make it to the finish line. The rest of the performances are fine (except, maybe, the lead who just can't really handle it), but Rockwell gives a commitment most actors would reserve for a far more interesting script and a character who isn't so familiar. There are times, during the second act particularly, where it's hard to hate - a fleeting insight here, a good gag there ("I'm holding out for a hero...").

But there's always another cliche or lazy trope around the corner you can expect to manifest, and the directors will always steer their baby right back into the middle of the road. The Way, Way Back offers the odd laugh and the infrequent charming moment, but it's just an old, rusty machine designed to deliver cheap crowd pleasing thrills, and ultimately its unpretentious modesty is more of a liability than an asset.

Crooked Jack

Just saw this. christ it was boring. 90 minutes of cliche ridden by-the-numbers indie nothingness.

Paranoid Mandroid

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Is it possible to say a film is watchable but at the same time sort of hate everything about it?

This is exactly what I thought about this movie. And the lead guy, I found, really unlikeable 3/10.

RobertFoster

Paranoid Mandroid wrote: »

And the lead guy, I found, really unlikeable 3/10.

I found him really unnoticeable. I don't think he's even in the TV ads for it.

cloud493

I didn't like it at all. Cliche cliche cliche.

Mickeroo

I'm a sucker for this sort of thing, sure it's cliched and very predictable but I enjoyed the hell out of it.