Where was the movie the way way back filmed

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The Way, Way Back Photos

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Movie Info

Duncan (Liam James) is an awkward teen who must spend the summer at a beach house with his mother (Toni Collette), her boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and Trent's obnoxious daughter. Trent can't resist badgering Duncan, so the youth steals away to a water park and gets a job that will help him stay off Trent's radar. As Duncan tends to the slides and pools of the aging park, he finds a father figure in wisecracking park manager Owen (Sam Rockwell) at a time when he desperately needs one.

• Rating:

  PG-13 (Language|Brief Drug Material|Some Sexual Content|Thematic Elements)

• Genre:

  Comedy, Drama

• Original Language:

  English

• Director:

  Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

• Producer:

  Kevin J. Walsh, Tom Rice

• Writer:

  Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

• Release Date (Theaters):

  Jul 26, 2013  wide

• Release Date (Streaming):

  Oct 22, 2013

• Box Office (Gross USA):

  $21.4M

• Runtime:

  1h 43m

• Distributor:

  Fox Searchlight

• Sound Mix:

  Dolby Digital

Cast & Crew

Steve Carell
Trent

Toni Collette
Pam

Allison Janney
Betty

AnnaSophia Robb
Susanna

Sam Rockwell
Owen

Maya Rudolph
Caitlin

Liam James
Duncan

Rob Corddry
Kip

Amanda Peet
Joan

River Alexander
Peter

Zoe Levin
Steph

Nat Faxon
Roddy

Jim Rash
Lewis

Adam Riegler
Neil

Jeff Ryan
Charlie

Nat Faxon
Director

Jim Rash
Director

Nat Faxon
Screenwriter

Jim Rash
Screenwriter

Kevin J. Walsh
Producer

Tom Rice
Producer

Nat Faxon
Executive Producer

Jim Rash
Executive Producer

Ben Nearn
Executive Producer

Gigi Pritzker
Executive Producer

George Parra
Executive Producer

John Bailey
Cinematographer

Tatiana S. Riegel
Film Editing

Rob Simonsen
Original Music

Mark Ricker
Production Design

Jeremy Woodward
Art Director

Rena DeAngelo
Set Decoration

Ann Roth
Costume Design

Michelle Matland
Costume Design

Allison Jones
Casting

News & Interviews for The Way, Way Back

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Critic Reviews for The Way, Way Back

All Critics (189) | Top Critics (61) | Fresh (158) | Rotten (31)

View All Critic Reviews (189)

Audience Reviews for The Way, Way Back

• Oct 05, 2016

  I like coming-of-age movies, and this is one of the better ones. Duncan comes out of his shell and stands up for himself after a summer at the beach. The chief architect of this change is Owen - a strange duck himself.

  Red L Super Reviewer

• Oct 05, 2014

  Not without its moments, but uneven overall--too many characters to background in the early going. As a result, the movie kind of wanders for the first 20-30 minutes, and winds up leaning too heavily on the montage while telling Duncan's story, glazing over the sense of purpose that his new job gives him and his budding romance with the girl next door. Strong final act, though, and great work by Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell playing against type, but there was just too much story here, probably two and a half hours worth... I wouldn't have sat through this kind of movie were it that long, but instead of glazing over the main plot to make it shorter, they could have cut a plot line or two and really brought us further inside Duncan.

  Daniel P Super Reviewer

• May 13, 2014

  A warm and poignant film about adolescence and the pains of growing, offered through an insightful glass. With most credit going to the superb Sam Rockwell, The Way Way Back is a funny film set in the nostalgic point in our lives, a story about that one summer when we were younger that for reasons perhaps both good and bad, was memorable.

  Kase V Super Reviewer

• May 07, 2014

  The comedy team of Jim Rash and Nat Faxon must keep making movies together, because they are amazing. Previously heralded for their screenwriting on "The Descendants," they wrote, directed, and acted in this great coming of age story about a boy stuck between his nervous mother and her hostile boyfriend, while on vacation. There's such a truthful and bittersweet humor to this film, and style comes from that mirth and originality. Its characters are familiar, as if from life, and yet new to us, in the way they act onscreen. Of course the story is pretty run of the mill: boy goes on vacation, boy meets girl, and boy becomes cool via older, callow friends, and eventually finds the courage to stand up to his parent. Yet still, there is a truth and passion to the story that really comes from knowing a teenage experience and knowing that life has many problems but many hidden joys. Sometimes the best kind of coming of age comedies are the ones where everything eventually works out, even if it's not realistic.

  Where was the beach in The Way, Way Back?

  Introverted 14-year-old Duncan from Albany, New York, reluctantly goes on summer vacation to a beach house in a small seaside town near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with his mother, Pam; her wealthy boyfriend, Trent; and Trent's arrogant daughter, Steph.

  Where was the movie No Way Back filmed?

  Filming Locations (8) 600 Mesquit Street, Los Angeles, California, USA (Opening night scene pan into tunnel.) 6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA (Opening night scene pan into tunnel.)

  What waterpark did they film The Way, Way Back?

  Crew and cast members film a scene for "The Way, Way Back" on the Squid Row slide at Water Wizz in Wareham.