Faxon and Rash conceived the film in the early 2000s, but it spent several years in development hell before funding could be secured. Filming lasted several months during summer 2012. It premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival,[4] where Fox Searchlight Pictures (which also distributed The Descendants, co-written by Faxon and Rash) acquired distribution rights to it. The film was theatrically released in the United States on July 5, 2013, where it received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $26.9 million against its $5 million budget.
Plot
Introverted 14-year-old Duncan from Albany, New York, reluctantly goes on summer vacation to a beach house in Wareham, Massachusetts, with his mother Pam, her wealthy boyfriend Trent, and Trent's spoiled daughter Steph. Trent and Steph are frequently condescending towards Duncan.
On the way to the beach house, Trent asks Duncan to rate himself on a scale of one to ten. Duncan says six, but Trent states that he's a three. At the house they are greeted by their neighbors: gregarious, heavy-drinking Betty, her children Susanna and Peter, and married couple Kip and Joan. Later that evening, Duncan and Susanna have an awkward conversation from their adjacent porches.
Duncan discovers a small girl's bicycle in the garage, which he uses to explore the town. At a pizzeria he meets Owen, a worker at the local water park, Water Wizz. Owen takes Duncan under his wing and introduces him to the park's employees: Caitlin, Lewis, and Roddy. Several youths at the water park speak reverently of a legendary pass in the tube slide, wondering how it could have been done. Owen hires Duncan for odd jobs at the park.
Duncan is continually neglected by Pam, who indulges in drinking, staying out late, and smoking marijuana with other adult vacationers. At a Fourth of July cookout, Susanna invites him to go hunting for ghost crabs with her and Peter, where they both open up about their absent fathers. Later that night, Duncan witnesses Trent and Joan kissing, but does not tell anyone.
Pam suspect Trents is having an affair, but he dissuades her of this notion. Later, Duncan confronts Pam in front of the others and tells her to leave Trent. When Trent interjects, Duncan insults and shoves him; Trent indignantly tells Duncan his father does not want him. Duncan flees, and Susanna follows him to offer comfort. When he tries to kiss her, she rejects him, upsetting him even more. Accompanied by Peter, Duncan sneaks away to Water Wizz, where Owen is throwing a going-away party for Lewis.
Duncan spends the night with his friends at Water Wizz, refusing to leave in the morning. He opens up to Owen about his home situation, and how Water Wizz is the only place where he feels accepted. A sympathetic Owen recalls his own upbringing where he was forced to abide by strict rules and advises Duncan to disregard Trent's criticisms and be himself.
When Duncan returns to the beach house, Pam tells him they are all leaving. Betty and her kids arrive to say their goodbyes, and Susanna kisses Duncan. They leave in a station wagon, with Duncan in the rear area ("The Way Way Back"). When Trent stops for gas on their way out of town, Duncan jumps out of the station wagon and runs to Water Wizz, followed by his mother, Trent, and Steph. Duncan tells Owen and the other employees that he has to leave, and goes with Owen to the Devil's Peak slide. Duncan becomes the first person to ever pass someone in the water slide while the rest of the park staff and attendees watch.
After introducing Owen to his mother, Duncan bids everyone at the park goodbye. Owen speaks fondly of Duncan to Pam, and introduces himself to Trent as "a good friend of the 'three'". Trent attempts to bypass Owen in order to bring Duncan back to the car, but Owen blocks him and Trent retreats. Duncan hugs Owen and thanks him for his kindness. Trent, Steph, Pam, and Duncan regroup in the station wagon, where Pam finally stands up for herself as they head out of town. Pam climbs to the back area of the station wagon (the "way back") where Duncan is sitting, despite Trent's protests, and they share a smile.
The film had its premiere screening at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[4] It was one of the most financially successful films to come out of the festival that year, outperforming well-known entries and Oscar-nominated films from the previous year.[5] It was released on July 5, 2013 in 19 theaters and surpassed box office expectations, averaging an impressive $30,263 per screen and grossing $525,000 for the weekend.[6] On July 15, 2013, it was added to an additional 60 theaters and grossed $1.1 million. It ended up earning $21.5 million in North America and $5 million elsewhere, for a total of $26.5 million.[7][8]
Critical response
The Way, Way Back received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 83% based on 185 reviews, with an average score of 7.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Despite its familiar themes, The Way Way Back makes use of its talented cast, finely tuned script, and an abundance of charm to deliver a funny and satisfying coming-of-age story".[9] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]
Inkoo Kang of The Village Voice called the film "a crowd-pleasing summer treat, predictable in its sweetness but satisfying all the same".[11]BBC Radio 5 Live film critic Mark Kermode praised the performances of Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney and Maya Rudolph and similarly reasoned that whilst "it's not world-changing, or earth-shattering" the film is "really sweet and funny".[12] David Gritten of The Daily Telegraph also praised the scene-stealing performances of Janney and Rockwell, concluding that despite a flood of similar coming-of-age films released in 2013 the film "feels warm, funny—and even fresh".[13] Catherine Shoard of The Guardian gave the film a positive review, concluding that "for all the longueurs, there are still enough moments of near brilliance to sustain you through the trip".[14] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times commended the film's quirky dialogue and cast performances, calling the film "witty, heartwarming, hopeful, sentimental, searing and relatable".[15]
Sam Rockwell's performance was met with critical praise, with many critics agreeing that his performance was deserving of an Academy Award nomination.[16][17] MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher said that Rockwell "makes the biggest splash with a sizzling supporting performance. Not only is he naturally funny, but he has the great ability to make every sharp line of dialogue sound freshly improvised."[18]
A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+, describing it as "generically constructed" and "never as refreshing as it's constantly straining to be".[19]
Heather Phares of AllMusic gave the film's soundtrack 7 out of 10 stars, saying:
The charming coming of age comedy The Way Way Back soundtracks its tale of 14-year-old Duncan's fateful summer working at the Water Wizz water park with bouncy '80s hits and indie rock. ... While the collection isn't as consistent as the soundtracks to like-minded films such as Juno or Little Miss Sunshine, it still has enough personality to be an entertaining set of songs.[29]
