The Way Way Back: A Review

The Way Way back may not be the greatest movie made, but it certainly hit home with me. It starred Liam James as a shy 14 year old named Duncan coming to terms with adolescence.  He is with his family on their way to the beach as any family would in the middle of the summer.  His step dad tries to engage him, but Duncan is trying his best to ignore him.  At first I thought the step-dad Trent (who is played by Steve Carell) is over-protected of him, but soon it is clear that his motives are not well meant.    Upon arriving, Duncan meets girls around his age, but his awkwardness makes it impossible to have fun with the other teens. 
It turns out that the beach local is more oriented toward the adults having fun than the kids, so Duncan wanders off and meets a big brother type named Owen (Sam Rockwell), who manages a water park and takes the kid under his wing.   Owen has a smart alec attitude that masks his heart of gold.  He begins to work toward getting Duncan out of his shell.  I think that the strength of this movie, which played in a limited amount of theatres is how easy it is to relate to the characters.