[6]

Liam James stars as a shy fourteen-year-old forced to suffer summer vacation with his freshly-divorced mother (Toni Collette) and her nasty boyfriend (Steve Carell). While he waits for his mother to grow a pair and throw the bum out, the boy finds solace at a nearby water park where the bohemian manager (Sam Rockwell) gives him the confidence to come out of his shell. There’s absolutely nothing surprising about The Way, Way Back, but writer/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash do fairly well at avoiding the sentimental pitfalls of most coming-of-age movies, and the cast really help to elevate the material. James and Rockwell are very good in their roles, as is young AnnaSophia Robb as the ‘girl next door’. Allison Janney plays a whackadoodle neighbor woman who makes constant fun of her son’s lazy eye (a peculiarly cruel running joke) and Maya Rudolph plays Rockwell’s coworker and possible girlfriend.