Reviews for this film from our members:
- [New – 2/6/14] | Luke Bonanno @ DVDizzy.com
- Excerpt: It’s kind of like a modern-day Meatballs as written and filmed by recent Academy Award winners, with heart, personal experience, and fleshed-out characters replacing sophomorism. Both the average moviegoer and the art house crowd should see the fun in this summer dramedy.
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A feel-good comedy and coming-of-age film where a shy teenager opens to the adventures of life, humor, and self-expression during a summer vacation.
- Daniek Carlson @ Pajiba
- Kevin Carr @ 7M Pictures
- Excerpt: The film never becomes corny. The characters’ actions – both good and bad – seem wholly authentic, even if they aren’t the first time you’ve seen this happen in a film.
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: It has its charms, most notably in Rockwell’s wise-cracking put-on artist, but it never goes for anything really deep as 2009’s similarly themed “Adventureland” did, while taking a few missteps along the way.
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: “The Way, Way Back” is the sort of movie that probably makes actors feel like they’re doing good work because they get to talk a lot. But the actors are actually the best thing about this movie which is absolutely nothing you haven’t seen before.
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: [Duncan is] a passive participant in his own story, and that does not make for an especially admirable protagonist.
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: It’s a bittersweet, heartwarming delight!
- Dustin Jansick @ Way Too Indie
- Excerpt: The Way Way Back plays out just as you would expect, failing to break from its formulated structure.
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: One of the more achingly poignant stories of awkward (male) adolescence I’ve seen, and one of the best movies of 2013 (so far). Sam Rockwell steals this movie more than he has ever stolen a movie before.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: It may not break an inch of new ground, but it doesn’t have to when the results are so wise, sweet-natured, and timelessly true.
- Carson Lund @ Dig Boston
- Excerpt: Laced with casual homophobia, sexism, and racism, as well as an apparent fetish for the camel toes of pre-driving-age blondies, The Way, Way Back nonetheless constitutes the contemporary notion of a “feel-good” movie.
- Dan Lybarger @ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Excerpt: At the film’s center, James effortlessly cracks Duncan’s rigid exterior. It’s a pleasure watching the lad blossom, even if his development is sometimes painful.
- Piers Marchant @ Sweet Smell of Success
- Jason McKiernan @ Film Racket
- Excerpt: The Way, Way Back is sneaky in the way it sets up a series of conventional themes and characters but slowly twists each of them, resulting in an experience that is subtly revelatory.
- Ross Miller @ Thoughts On Film
- Excerpt: Acutely observed and utterly charming comedy drama boasting a great cast and more heart and soul than most other movies this year.
- Nell Minow @ The Movie Mom
- Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
- R. Kurt Osenlund @ South Philly Review
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: A fresh and very funny movie, a tonic for a summer loaded with robots, monsters, zombies, apocalypses, crummy futures, and men made of iron and steel.
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: Covers familiar territory, but for the most part in a pleasantly quirky fashion.
- Sam Turner @ Film Intel
- Excerpt: ‘This is Zaphod Beeblebrox goes to the waterpark, Chuck Barris with humanity and a fully-working mind. It’s arguable that Rockwell has never been better’
