The Way Way Back
Dir: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
2013
****
I hate the phrase 'Coming of age' and I'm a firm believer that not all comedies need a moral message and 'Coming of age' films could do with focusing on normal kids for a change. I admit, I didn't think comedy pair Nat Faxon and Jim Rash were up to the job. I was wrong and I'm ashamed of myself. This is one of my favorite 'Coming of age' films of all time. It's nice to see a film were the parents aren't unbelievable, two-dimensional characters and whereby the child in question isn't secretly special in anyway. The cast is great, Toni Collette is good in everything and Sam Rockwell couldn't be cooler. It's very nice to see Steve Carell in a straight role for a change too, hopefully we see more of this from him and less of his Brick Tamland character. One of the more uplifting films of 2013.