“I think you’re a three. … I don’t see you putting yourself out there, bud. … You’re just happy to not do anything? … So, what do you say? Let’s try to get that score up. Huh? Aim higher than a three?”

Duncan (Liam James), his mother Pam (Toni Collette), her boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) and his daughter Steph (Zoe Levin) are on a road trip from New York City to Trent’s New England beach house for the summer. Trent is overbearing, and often condescending towards Duncan—a shy, awkward, introverted 14-year-old who seems to be miserable all the time. Duncan doesn’t like Trent or the way he treats his mother, and he’s not really looking forward to this summer vacation—he wishes he could be spending it with his father.

When the “family” arrives at the summer home, Duncan and his mother meet Trent’s eclectic group of friends and neighbors. Next door neighbor Betty (Allison Janney) is wild and brash, and doesn’t seem to have a filter when it comes to sharing her personal information or issues. She’s also not going to win any awards for mother of the year—she’s constantly poking fun at her son Peter (River Alexander) and his lazy eye. However, Betty’s daughter Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) catches Duncan’s eye, but she already has a boyfriend and Duncan is too shy to say anything anyway.

Every night the Pam and Trent get drunk or high with Trent’s friends Kip (Rob Corddry) and Joan (Amanda Peet) and leave the children to their own devices. Duncan is growing increasingly miserable and doesn’t like how his mother is changing. He decides to sneak out and explore, and comes across a local water park where he befriends the manager Owen (Sam Rockwell). Duncan soon finds a new family in the Water Wizz staff, who help him grow, become more confident, come out of his shell, and actually enjoy his summer.
 

The writing team behind the Oscar-winning The Descendants, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, is back with another heartwarming coming-of-age dramedy. This time the duo also steps both in front of the camera and behind it to direct, and the result is highly entertaining and emotional. The film is a great blend of comedy and drama, and often feels like the writers poured themselves and their own experiences onto the page.

The highlight of the film is Liam James’ performance as Duncan. He play both the dramatic and comedic scenes so well, and is able to portray both sides of his character believably. You really get a sense of Duncan’s growth from introvert to well-balanced, confident young man.

A lot of the film’s drama comes from the family dynamic back at the summer home. Steve Carell successfully portrays this jerk who’s not so unlikable that you can’t see why Collette’s character was originally attracted to him. And Collette also does a wonderful job portraying this conflicted woman who knows she has settled and is not in an ideal relationship. However it’s not all drama at the beach house as Allison Janney is a hoot, bringing a lot of humor to her role—especially whenever she is asking her son to wear an eye patch so he doesn’t freak out others.

At the water park, there’s some drama as the make-shift family comes together to help one another out, but mostly this is where the fun happens. The staff of the park is perfectly cast with Sam Rockwell as the guy who just won’t grow up who serves as surrogate father/big brother to Duncan, and Maya Rudolph as his more sensible wannabe-girlfriend. Nat Faxon & Jim Rash bring a lot of hilarity as other employees of the Water Park. Combining improv with scripted lines adds an authenticity to the humor that makes it feel very natural. I was instantly transported back to the fun of going to these kinds of New England water parks as a kid.

The Blu-ray presentation looks crisp and equally captures all of the bright fun of the water park as well as late night adult partying at the beach house. The audio track makes great use of all of the channels—at the opening of the film, you feel like you are right there with Duncan in the way way back of the station wagon. The bonus features included on the disc are minimal, but informative and humorous.

The Way Way Back is a thoroughly entertaining film that is well written, features some fantastic performances and is loaded with heart and humor. This is one movie that’s definitely worth checking out!

What’s Included on the Blu-ray:

Film (1:43:28):

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Descriptive Audio DD 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DTS 5.1, Castellano DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Italian DTS 5.1, Czech DD 5.1, Hungarian DD 5.1, Thai DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Castellano, Dutch, German, Italian, Arabic, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Malay, Chinese, Romanian, Thai, Vietnamese

Digital Copy: (Redemption Deadline 10/22/2015)

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Vudu or Flixster

Extras:

• Behind-the-Scenes with the Hilarious Cast & Filmmakers (Blu-ray Exclusive) (31:19)
  Play All or select from “The Script”, “The Cast”, “The Shoot”, “The Characters”, “Nat & Jim”, and “Sundance”. This fun, interesting behind-the-scenes featurette finds Nat Faxon and Jim Rash talking about the evolution of the script they first wrote in 2005, casting the film, shooting the film in Marshfield, Massachusetts, shooting at the water park, rooting the characters in reality, directing/working as a pair, and showing the film at Sundance. Also includes interviews with producers Kevin Walsh, Tom Rice and George Parra, and actors Toni Collette, Steve Carrell, River Alexander, AnnaSophia Robb, Rob Corddry, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Allison Janney, Liam James, Maya Rudolph, Zoe Levin. (Some of this footage is used in the other featurettes.)
• Deleted Scenes (3:02)
  Play All or select from “Catching Bob”, “The Morning After”, and “Do You Wanna Get Wizzed?”.
• Theatrical Behind the Scenes
  • Tour of the Water Park (3:22)
    Jim Rash, Nat Faxon and Sam Rockwell talk about the various locations in the water park used in the film.
  • The Filmmakers: Jim and Nat (3:16)
    Jim Rash, Nat Faxon talk about the genesis of the film, while cast members Allison Janney, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Maya Rudolph, and Sam Rockwell talk about what it was like working with the pair.
  • Ensemble Featurette (4:34)
    Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, Allison Janney, Annasophia Robb, and Sam Rockwell discuss the characters and their relationships.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:26)
• Sneak Peek (10:31)
  Play All or select from trailers for “The East”, “Baggage Claim”, “The Heat”, “The Family” and “The Internship”.

Final Thoughts:

The Way Way Back is a thoroughly entertaining film with some great performances, and is a fun, heartwarming and emotional viewing experience. The blu-ray looks and sounds great and contains a small but interesting selection of bonus features. I would be shocked if this movie doesn’t receive any recognition come Oscar season—it’s definitely worth checking out!