The Way, Way Back
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: July 5, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 17, 2013
The jokes are often double-edged, the performances always spot-on. The Way, Way Back doesn't re-invent the teenage turning point genre, but Faxon and Rash offer a breezy new spin. You'll see more inventive movies this year but few more endearing. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJul 4, 2013
Authenticity gives the movie its witty, heartwarming, hopeful, sentimental, searing and relatable edge. It is merciless in probing the tender spots of times like these, and tough-guy sweet in patching up the wounds. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 4, 2013
It's a joyous movie, the best one I've seen in a very long time. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 29, 2013
With his rapid-fire delivery and big heart, Rockwell makes Owen his version of “M*A*S*H”’s Hawkeye Pierce, but the film’s layers of well-observed truths go deeper than that. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 16, 2013
It's funny, affecting, and appealing, and more worthy than much of what's out there. Often, coming-of-age stories rely forcefully on formulaic narrative developments but The Way Way Back remains fresh from start to finish. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 8, 2013
The Way Way Back gets it wittily, thrillingly right. It turns the familiar into something bracingly fresh and funny. It makes you laugh, then breaks your heart. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerJul 3, 2013
Co-writers/directors Faxon and Rast have created a little gem of a film. Without question, The Way Way Back is the best coming-of-age movie of the summer and should be seen by audiences of all ages. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 11, 2013
Co-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who won an Oscar for writing "The Descendants," are smart enough to mostly stay out the way and let this talented crew bring their script to life. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonAnna SmithAug 27, 2013
This also marks what may be Allison Janney’s funniest performance to date: her cheerful, outspoken drunk next door is an absolute hoot. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsAug 26, 2013
A film for every age, whether you’re an awkward kid, former awkward kid or awkward kid-adjacent. Funny, real and uplifting. A film that reaffirms your belief in the human spirit. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramAug 24, 2013
If the Collette/Carell reunion suggests Little Miss Sunshine, it’s not quite that crowd-pleasing. But, crafted with much TLC and sympathy, it’s perfectly tailored to the tongue-tied teen in us all. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJul 19, 2013
The Way, Way Back is way, way good -- and a welcome breath of fresh air at the summertime box office. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 11, 2013
In a movie with uniformly outstanding performances, Rockwell, as ever, is especially good. So is Carell, playing against type. But what makes The Way, Way Back stand out is Faxon and Rash’s obvious familiarity with what Duncan is going through. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 5, 2013
Beautifully executed, loaded with sharp observational moments, and never cheats either its characters or its audience by descending into raunchy teen-movie cliché. This is a delicately balanced and often very funny holiday alternative suitable for pretty much the entire family. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 18, 2013
Aiming for a middle path between drama and comedy, The Way Way Back is so overloaded with jokes that it could sink in the water hazard, but on the final scorecard, sure enough, it’s in the hole. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJul 18, 2013
Sometimes you have to praise a movie backwards. In a season of clamorous action pictures, dopey comedies and grisly horrors, The Way Way Back is notable for what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t yank on your heartstrings, though you’ll be touched gently at last. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJul 11, 2013
A sly, richly modulated, emotionally engaging, and brutally honest film. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 4, 2013
The movie’s a minor pleasure rather than a major work. But minor pleasures have their place, especially in summertime, and at its best The Way, Way Back goes down like a popsicle on a hot July day. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithJul 4, 2013
The Way, Way Back is balanced, satisfying, wholesome. Dig in. Read full review
75
NPRElla TaylorJul 3, 2013
The Way, Way Back isn't exactly memorable, and strictly speaking it would do just fine on a small screen. But unlike the glib "The Descendants," which is also about, it's smart, funny and moving about human weakness. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 1, 2013
The performances and the ready supply of one-liners make this an amusing look at a new generation getting lost down memory lane. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJun 26, 2013
There's something slightly formulaic and familiar about Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's coming-of-age film The Way, Way Back, but not enough to dampen its crowd-pleasing charm. Read full review
75
The PlaylistCory EverettFeb 26, 2013
Comedy is hard all on its own, but comedy that resonates is a rare thing indeed. So it’s admirable that Rash and Faxon are continuing to head down that path they started with “The Descendants,” even if this film isn’t quite as refined. Read full review
75
Film.comWilliam GossFeb 26, 2013
Faxon and Rush’s screenplay doesn’t deviate too far from formula, but their sturdy direction, bolstered by handsome production values, evokes a wistful sense of carefree summers and conjures up a potent amount of simmering teenage angst beneath the frequent chuckles. Read full review
70
TimeMary PolsJul 5, 2013
It is derivative and too deliberately zany, but still a heartfelt charmer. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 26, 2013
Despite the familiarity of this setup, Way Back is a charmer, putting refreshingly little emphasis on Duncan's romantic needs and allowing family melodrama to erupt and simmer down without pat resolution. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 5, 2013
Features one of the best endings in recent movie memory — and as we all know, endings are the hardest. If it takes some predictable twists and turns to get there, well then, accept it and move on. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 4, 2013
The film's not as good as its cast, but The Way, Way Back has its moments. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 4, 2013
The Way, Way Back has the charm of timelessness but also more than a touch of triteness. Its situations and feelings seem drawn more from available, sentimental ideas about adolescence than from the perceptions of any particular adolescent. Read full review
60
Village VoiceStaff [Not Credited]Jul 2, 2013
The Way, Way Back is a crowd-pleasing summer treat, predictable in its sweetness but satisfying all the same. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 26, 2013
The story of a teen desperate for a father figure who finds encouragement from a wild-and-crazy water-park employee -- rather than from the guy auditioning to be his stepdad -- can be explosively funny in parts, but overall feels pretty familiar, relying more on its cast than the material to win favor. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jul 3, 2013
Just about everyone and everything in The Way, Way Back feels programmed, as though the film were written using Mad Libs. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 26, 2013
Small touches point to a slightly better movie hiding beneath most of the routine, particularly the respectable finale that stops just short of the clichéd resolution expected of it. On the whole, however, The Way, Way Back dances to a tune we've heard too many times before. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJul 18, 2013
The coming-of-age tale The Way, Way Back is sweet, heartfelt and utterly trite and predictable from beginning to end. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJul 10, 2013
That’s the central problem with The Way, Way Back – it’s more manipulative than truthful. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 8, 2013
The story doesn’t feel dramatized. It feels pitched. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 5, 2013
Like "Little Miss Sunshine," the movie stars Toni Collette and Steve Carell in a story about a dysfunctional family trip, though like "Adventureland," it’s really about a teenager finding acceptance at a local theme park. Read full review
40
The DissolveScott TobiasJul 10, 2013
There’s a potentially compelling story here about children of divorce and the tentative ways they set about forging their own relationships, but the filmmaking is too rudimentary to draw it out subtly. Read full review
40
Time OutSam AdamsJul 2, 2013
Even by adolescence-is-hell standards, this poor sap is the embodiment of how ugly the so-called wonder years can be for some — a painful notion that’s as close as Faxon and Rash’s directorial debut comes to evoking an emotional response that hasn’t been sifted through dozens of nigh-identical films. Read full review
40
The GuardianDamon WiseFeb 26, 2013
There are plenty of comic moments...But The Way, Way Back is very rarely laugh-out-loud funny. Unfortunately, neither is it very involving. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinJun 29, 2013
Praises the electric carelessness of teenage angst while depicting it as if it were ultimately no more exciting, though no less pleasant, than an hour in the wave pool. Read full review
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