A smart coming-of-age comedy about shy teen Duncan (James) as he’s dragged on a summer vacation with his mother (Collette) and her overbearing boyfriend (Carell). Duncan stumbles into a job at the local water park, where under the wing of manager Owen (Rockwell) he finds a new lease of life and the confidence he had been missing for so long.
The Way, Way Back is a hugely enjoyable, charming and endearing film that shares a lot of parallels with Adventureland. Though the movie loses its bottle when the plot inevitably takes its final turn, the actors are fantastic. Liam James and Steve Carell put in stellar performances, though its Sam Rockwell who steals the show. Writer/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash both have funny smaller roles too in what is a hugely impressive directorial debut for the pair.