![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Coyote Cinema: The Way Way Back
Aug. 6th, 2013 12:54 am"The Way Way Back" is a coming of age film.
Still here? Okay, good. TWWB is not your typical coming of age film. Loose ends are not tied up in pretty bows. Broken people are not made whole by part of a summer at the beach. Sam Rockwell is really good, as usual. Liam James, who despite being the main character is listed seventh in IMDB (talk to your agent, guy!) makes the stereotypical awkward teen feel painfully fresh. I even liked Steve Carell.
Things in this movie feel *real*. These are actual people, with actual pointy bits grinding against the people around them. We do things because they're easy, or because we hope they'll hurt less. So do they.
I kept waiting to discover that the fuckup supervisor at the waterpark was the ostracised black sheep brother of the asshole boyfriend, or something. But we don't get that sort of convenient coincidence, we get an awkward introduction at the end which tells us more about these people than a cheap story telling trick would.
This story had an emotional impact, and that's unusual. I was impressed. Four wags.
Still here? Okay, good. TWWB is not your typical coming of age film. Loose ends are not tied up in pretty bows. Broken people are not made whole by part of a summer at the beach. Sam Rockwell is really good, as usual. Liam James, who despite being the main character is listed seventh in IMDB (talk to your agent, guy!) makes the stereotypical awkward teen feel painfully fresh. I even liked Steve Carell.
Things in this movie feel *real*. These are actual people, with actual pointy bits grinding against the people around them. We do things because they're easy, or because we hope they'll hurt less. So do they.
I kept waiting to discover that the fuckup supervisor at the waterpark was the ostracised black sheep brother of the asshole boyfriend, or something. But we don't get that sort of convenient coincidence, we get an awkward introduction at the end which tells us more about these people than a cheap story telling trick would.
This story had an emotional impact, and that's unusual. I was impressed. Four wags.