Movie Monday: The Way Way Back (2013)
Hello there Third Wheelers! Sorry for the late post, but here is your weekly Movie Monday~
On a scale of 1 to 10, what do you think you are? Go ahead and really think about it. If you answer anything less than a 7—well, this is the kind of movie that encourages you to reconsider.
Way back in a small beach town in the east coast, loafers of the summer vacation wander in their perfect escapades. Duncan (Liam James) is a quiet, awkward 14-year-old who reluctantly tags along with his mother, her new boyfriend, and his daughter. He tries to adjust to the passively oppressive new boyfriend named Trent (Steve Carell) in the way back of his car. But Trent’s unloving words constantly sabotage Duncan, and his ignorant mother is too afraid to change her way of life for her son. Coincidentally, Duncan discovers a popular water resort where he escapes away from his troubling reality.
Despite the enviable scenery of the ocean and constant nights of drinking, the beach town is not the paradise that it seems to be for Duncan. He is dispirited and instantly opposed to anything his mother and Trent do. His sunken shoulders, eyes staring at the ground, and pouted lips, are all signs of dissatisfaction. When he meets an older friend named Owen who works at a water park, however, he slowly gains confidence and courage to face the ones who put him down. It is satisfying to watch Duncan grow from the most socially awkward kid imaginable to a confident and well-liked employee of the month.
On the other hand, it is increasingly more difficult to watch the others who are stuck in a backward way of life. Trent and his accomplice of affair are absolutely deplorable and beyond repair. Duncan’s mother, Pam, is one character that we truly hope for to snap out of the fantasy that Trent’s money and beautiful beach house forge. She has been badly hurt by her ex-husband and is hurt again by Trent, but is too weak to try to rebel against the disillusionment.
All the actors in this movie including Liam James, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janey, Sam Rockwell, and Anna Sophia Robb, are fantastic. There is no character that is unconvincing or unnecessary in this coming-of-age plot. Each chemistry, antagonistic or not, is first-rate and enjoyable to watch. I was pleasantly surprised by one of Steve Carell’s few serious acting. I sat down in the theater expecting a comic relief from the famous Michael Scott of The Office, but Carell instead brought forthright disdain and repugnance in this emotional drama. It was so easy to despise Trent and take sympathy with Duncan and even his mother.
The Way Way Back is a coming-of-age story for Duncan and also for Pam, who had transgressed into a child-like helplessness. The last scene repeats the exact same structure as the first scene, of the broken family in the car back home. Trent is driving, Pam is by his side on the front passenger seat, Trent’s daughter is laying down and taking up the whole space of the backseats, and Duncan is all the way in the back of the trunk, facing backward away from the family. It seems as though nothing but he has changed from the paradise vacation turned sour.
When we’re about to give up hope for Duncan, alas, Pam finally leaves Trent’s side. While the car is still moving, Pam crosses all the way to the back and sits next to Duncan in the trunk. She stands up for herself in her own way. In the way, way back of the car, staring into the town that made them realize the importance of respect and family, Duncan and Pam finally begins to respect oneself and each other.
After all, what does it matter if you are in the back of the mind of someone who simply wants to insult you? Duncan and Pam now know better that happiness isn’t about possession, of a nice beach house, money, or boyfriend, but about holding yourself up high and giving love to those they love.
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