The Way Way Back (2013)

This movie felt so '80s that it should've been set in the '80s, a la Adventureland. A couple of sequences in particular felt like they had no place in this time period: the “Pop n Lock” scene and the the supposedly epic “passing on the water slide” bit. I got the feeling that the writers expected those very mild scenes to have an impact, which makes me sure that they're children of the '80s themselves since the only actual impact was to make me think "wow -- that's dated."

It’s an affable enough story, but I might’ve directed the lead to be a bit less of a sad sack and to STAND UP STRAIGHT, dammit.



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