Line #73 Film/TheWayWayBack


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_way_way_back_poster_1.jpg]]
2
3	->''"This is the place where dreams are made! [[BlackComedy Or destroyed!]] It depends on how you feel about working at a waterpark!"''
4	-->-- '''Owen''', improvising an "inspirational" song on the spot for Duncan
5
6	A 2013 ComingOfAge {{Dramedy}} film written and directed by Creator/NatFaxon and Creator/JimRash, in which the protagonist, 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James), is dragged along on a family vacation with his mom Pam (Creator/ToniCollette), her boyfriend Trent (Creator/SteveCarell), and Trent's daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). Duncan never quite finds his feet until he gets a job at a water park run by {{Manchild}} Owen (Creator/SamRockwell) and starts to form a bond with a local girl named Susanna (Creator/AnnaSophiaRobb).
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9	!!This film provides examples of:
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11	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Apparently, the script was originally set in TheEighties. The decision was made to change it to modern times, but we rarely see any technology invented in the last thirty years. Most notably, a major part of the plot is that Duncan disappears for entire days and his mother chides him for ''not leaving a note''. The lack of cell phones is a glaring thing in a 21st-century setting.
12	* BewareTheNiceOnes: The normally happy and goofy Owen becomes noticeably more serious when he finally encounters Trent and steps between him and Duncan with a body language that makes clear he would love nothing more than an excuse to break Trent's face into a jigsaw puzzle.
13	* BickeringCouplePeacefulCouple: Trent and Pam are the bickering couple to Owen and Caitlin's peaceful couple. Despite Pam's efforts to make their relationship work, Trent remains a manipulative {{Jerkass}} who cheats on her and treats her son as a glorified servant. In contrast, despite Owen's ManChild tendencies, he is clearly hurt when Caitlin threatens to leave him and makes a sincere effort to apologize and change himself.
14	* BigBrotherMentor: Owen is this towards Duncan and the group of three friends from the waterpark. Also doubles as BigBrotherInstinct.
15	* TheBigDamnKiss: Subverted when Duncan tries to kiss Susanna in a quiet moment and she refuses. Played straight towards the end when she kissed him goodbye.
16	* BookEnds: The film begins and ends in Duncan's POV as he sits at the back of the Buick, as they go to and leave Water Wizz respectively.
17	* ButtMonkey: Lewis at the waterpark, Neil/Ming Lee, and Trent certainly treat Duncan as one.
18	* TheCastShowOff: Sam Rockwell gets to show off his dancing skills at Lewis' farewell party.
19	* CaughtComingHomeLate: Trent catches Duncan coming home late and both have a talk about it.
20	* CensorshipBySpelling:
21	-->'''Betty:''' (''describing another family'') They called me a [[CountryMatters 'see-you-next-Tuesday.']] To my face.
22	* CerebusSyndrome: Though from the start this movie has some degree of intensity, it begins as a standard ComingOfAge story and is fairly predictable. However, some GenreBusting occurs as the story takes some dark turns.
23	* ChivalrousPervert: Owen, Roddy, and eventually Duncan after he learns a trick from the first two involving having [[FanserviceExtra beautiful bikini-clad girls]] wait [[EatingTheEyeCandy a little longer than usual]] before going down the slide.
24	* CommonalityConnection: Both Duncan and Susanna have a moment of connection when they realize that they both have an absent dad and they both try to stay away from their houses because their mothers are just acting weird.
25	* CoolCar:
26	** Trent's 1970 Buick Estate Wagon whose backward-facing third-row seat lends the movie its title. Justified in that he made an effort to source the same model his family owned when he was a kid.
27	** Then there's Owen's "[[TheAllegedCar just shitty enough]]" Cavalier convertible and the girly pink bicycle Duncan finds in the garage and commandeers as his own transportation.
28	* CrappyHolidays: Seen from Duncan's point of view at the beginning. It gets better though once he starts enjoying himself.
29	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Implied. When Trent corners Duncan at the water park, Owen effortlessly slides between the two and blocks Trent's way. When Trent orders Duncan back to the car, Owen stares him down and [[OhCrap Trent]] [[DirtyCoward scurries away]].
30	* DanceOff: Duncan is challenged to a dance-off at Water Wizz when he has to break up a group of patrons whose dancing causes a congestion hazard. He dances terribly, but the kids admire his willingness to participate and let him "win" as a result.
31	* DeadpanSnarker:
32	** Owen. Others even constantly have to tell him to be serious.
33	** Susanna's family is quite a snarkfest. Watch the banter of Peter and Betty, and then Susanna towards Duncan.
34	* DirtyCoward: Trent's bravado and cruelty disappear when he's faced with someone actually willing to stand up to him, practically running away in terror when Owen stands up to him.
35	* TheDitz: Played with by Owen; while he acts like an irreverent goofball most of the time, he has an uncanny knack for sensing when people are distraught and dispenses some genuine nuggets of wisdom at key moments. It's unclear how much of his behavior is an act and how much is his actual personality.
36	* DoorDumb: Duncan tries to climb the fence of the water park at night. Then Roddy shows up pushing open a door nearby.
37	* TheEeyore: Lewis, who speaks with a flat monotone and seldom shows any emotion more energetic than DullSurprise.
38	* EmoTeen: Duncan and Susanna. Both loosen up as the summer goes on.
39	* EmployeeOfTheMonth: Duncan becomes this at the water park to the surprise of his parents.
40	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Two notable ones:
41	** Trent asks Duncan (insistently) how he, Duncan, rates himself on a 1-to-10 scale. When Duncan says he's a 6, Trent tells him he's a 3.
42	** Owen, who Duncan has just met playing ''VideoGame/PacMan'' in a diner. Owen shrugs off Duncan's advice that each ''Pac-Man'' game has a pattern, saying that anyone can learn a pattern and that knowing it would take all the fun out of each game, showing Owen's disdain for organization and patterns.
43	* ExtremeDoormat: Duncan calls his mom out for being this, as she knows about Trent cheating on her but does nothing about it.
44	* FauxAffablyEvil: Trent tries to give off the vibe of being a likable parental figure and boyfriend, but he's actually an adulterous, emotionally abusive control freak just beneath the surface.
45	* FlatCharacter: Steph, who falls into the BrattyTeenageDaughter trope to a T.
46	* FreakierThanFiction: Who in their right mind would call a water park "Water Wizz"? [[http://www.waterwizz.com/ They did]].
47	* FreeRangeChildren: Duncan ends up as this when he's left alone at the beach house. He finds an old bicycle and starts riding around town, where he soon discovers the water park. However, the parents do get upset when Duncan doesn't come home at night.
48	* FreudianExcuse: It's implied that Owen's dad was a lot like Trent, which explains his ManChild behavior.
49	** With having [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Trent]] as a father (whom she only sees twice a year, probably for a good reason), it's no wonder why [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Steph]] is the way she is.
50	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Trent, Joan, and Kip don't seem to really like Betty, but she and Pam seem to be great friends by the end of the film.
51	* FriendToAllChildren: While Owen playfully teases the patrons of the water park, he is also sensitive to 14-year-old Duncan's problems and teaches 10-year-old Peter to not be ashamed of his lazy eye.
52	* {{Gaslighting}}: Trent does this to Pam when he tries to convince her that [[spoiler:he's not sleeping with Joan]]. Pam also alludes that her ex-husband had done this to her as well.
53	-->'''Pam:''' (''to Trent'') Don't make me feel crazy. I've been through this before!
54	* GoodTimesMontage: A montage showing Duncan and Susanna having a good time at the water park.
55	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Susanna, the only teen in Trent's neighborhood who is kind to Duncan.
56	* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Betty. It's also heavily implied that Steph is one too.
57	* HateSink: Trent. There doesn't seem to be a single redeeming quality to the guy. He's cruel, dishonest, emotionally abusive, adulterous, passive aggressive, controlling, petulant and generally just awful to be around.
58	* InSeriesNickname: Duncan becomes known as "Pop 'n Lock" by the staff and patrons of Water Wizz, to the point that his "employee of the month" photo uses that to identify him.
59	* IronicEcho: "What are you starin' at, perv?"
60	** Also, "Don't die wondering."
61	* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine:
62	** Creator/ToniCollette and Creator/SteveCarell played siblings in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine''.
63	** Amanda Peet and Liam James played mother and son in ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve''.
64	* {{Jerkass}}: Trent is very much this, as he constantly berates Duncan and emotionally abuses his mom. It doesn't help that it's implied that he's cheating on Duncan's mom with a friend.
65	* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Trent. There seem to be no redeeming qualities to him whatsoever.
66	* KickTheDog: Hardly a scene passes where Trent isn't doing this to Duncan, culminating in revealing that Duncan's dad didn't want him for the summer out of sheer spite.
67	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Creator/AllisonJanney has described her character Betty as having this with her son Peter (River Alexander).
68	* ManChild: Owen. To a lesser extent, every adult except Caitlin.
69	-->'''Susanna''': It's like Spring Break for adults.
70	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: A RareMaleExample in Owen, who helps Duncan get out of his shell and become well-liked by the staff and customers of Water Wizz.
71	* MondegreenGag: Joan misheard the lyrics of Music/MrMister's "Kyrie" as "Carry a laser own the road that I must travel".
72	* MotorMouth: Betty. Especially in her opening scene which borders on being a monologue.
73	* MsFanservice: Susanna, as well as the girls at the waterpark that Roddy, Owen, and Duncan [[MaleGaze ogle]] in line for the water slides.
74	* NiceGuy:
75	** Owen. Underneath his [[{{Manchild}} playful exterior]], it's clear he cares about the employees and customers at Water Wizz.
76	** Kip as well. He tries to get Duncan out of wearing the life vest on the boat, and he doesn't dismiss [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Betty's]] wishes to go back out on the boat.
77	* NoSocialSkills: Duncan at first.
78	* ParentalNeglect: Duncan suffers from this for most of the movie, as Pam is too wrapped up in her own issues with Trent and barely pays any attention to his moods and feelings.
79	* ParentalSubstitute: Owen ends up becoming a surrogate father to Duncan.
80	* ParentWithNewParamour: Duncan has his problems with Trent.
81	* PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize: This is Trent's relationship with Duncan. Trent ''says'' he wants them to have a relationship of trust and respect, but he constantly belittles Duncan and treats him as either a nuisance or a servant.
82	* PluckyComicRelief: Owen's default state is to shoot rapid-fire jokes at everything and everyone around him. It's PlayedForDrama when Caitlin becomes exasperated with his {{Manchild}} antics and is ready to leave him because of it.
83	* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: To Owen's surprise, none of the kids at the ride know of ''Film/{{Footloose}}'' or its 2011 remake.
84	* ProfessionalSlacker: Owen. He even walks around the park in his bathrobe.
85	* RequestForPrivacy: Duncan asks his mother and her boyfriend to leave so that he can say goodbye to Owen in private.
86	* TheReveal: Kip nonchalantly mentions that the motor on his boat has been out for ''weeks''. Making it obvious that [[spoiler: Trent ''was'' in fact cheating on Pam with Joan.]]
87	* RiddleForTheAges: [[spoiler: How did Duncan pass Owen on the slide?]]
88	* SlipperySwimsuit: Duncan loses his trunks during his first slide.
89	* SourOutsideSadInside: We see a brief moment where Steph, having recently broken up with Neil, admitted that she was going through a lot and would've appreciated having a friend. Though it doesn't stop her from calling Susanna a "bitch" just before.
90	* SouvenirLand: Water Wizz. According to [[UnreliableNarrator Owen]], it hasn't been updated since the early 1980s.
91	* SuperGullible: Duncan falls for each jokes Owen pulls on him.
92	* TagalongKid: Peter, who begs Duncan to take him to Water Wizz.
93	* TerrifiedOfGerms: Lewis is a germophobe who works in the rental booth because nobody ever visits it. He even claims that his doctor said water is bad for his face.
94	* {{Tsundere}}: Caitlin. Somewhat justified by the fact that Owen is unbelievably irresponsible.
95	* TwoDecadesBehind: Done deliberately, justified, played with, lampshaded and invoked as the point. The movie shows quite a lot of adults pining for the older days, but as we are seeing the events unfold through Duncan, he is understandably creeped out by what he sees and doesn't understand the nostalgia they feel.
96	* VagueAge: Susanna. It's stated that she is older than Duncan (who's 14) but young enough where she feels comfortable to admit her feelings for him.
97	* VitriolicBestBuds:
98	** Vladimir, Ishmael and Ming Lee, the three friends from the waterpark.
99	** Owen and Lewis count as well.
100	* WaxingLyrical: Owen tries to get help with Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero." He gets weird looks.
101	-->'''Owen:''' I'm holding out for a hero. He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast. And he's gotta be fresh from the fight.
102	* WithFriendsLikeThese: The adult friend group.
103	* WouldHurtAChild: When Duncan reaches his boiling point and pushes Trent, there is no hesitation before he tries to push Duncan back.
104
105	----
106	-> ''"You gotta go your own way. And you, my friend, are going your own way."''

Context Film / TheWayWayBack