Hope for Humanity

There might have been a small tidal wave over the July 4th weekend.  We'll see if the ripples persist.  But, perhaps....just perhaps...there is hope for those of us out in the dark.  The movie going public who craves films that don't exist solely on explosions, computer graphic effects, and a 20-year-old's mentality.

You might have read that the big holiday weekend movie was Disney's "The Lone Ranger."  The trailer alone was enough to keep me away forever, especially with that dead bird sitting on Johnny "Tonto" Depp's head.  And that anti-Al Jolson make-up he sports throughout the film.  The film looked absolutely dreadful and very typical of what the assholes who run Hollywood think we, as an audience, crave.

Well, kemosabes, "The Lone Ranger" was a complete bomb. It cost 250 million dollars to make and, after the opening weekend, it only has maybe 220 million to go before it shows a profit of a dime or two.

Can you give me an amen?

There is hope for humanity, after all.

Here in Hollywood, I noted the coming tsunami myself.  Looking for a movie and some air conditioned comfort, my friends and I settled on "The Way, Way Back."  A small movie that appeared to have a brain.  It was playing at my favorite Arclight Cinema on Sunset Boulevard.  When I went on-line for the ticket purchase, I noticed that the Arclight folks had placed it in their biggest theater, which is the historic Cinerama Dome.

Wait, I thought.  "The Lone Ranger" should have the lofty presence of being in their crown jewel of theaters for opening weekend.  Indeed, when I got there, "The Lone Ranger" was still on the Dome marquee.  But, theater management had moved it out after two days.  

Yep, "The Lone Ranger" had done that bad at the Cinerama Dome.

Can you please give me another amen?

Meanwhile, as the audience filed into the Dome for the prime Saturday night 8:10PM showing of "The Way, Way Back," I realized that the place would be at least 3/4 full for this small, little movie.  Made with little fanfare.  With nary a special effect, a car crash, or a bloody decapitation.  

The folks staring at the screen actually had brains.  And they were being rewarded with a thoroughly engaging and fun film that....yes...ran for less than the now-expected two-and-a-half-hours.  

One last amen, please.

If you don't know much about "The Way, Way Back," you should.   Because it tells a modern day tale that everyone of us can identify with.  That awkward time of your life.  When you were fourteen and you didn't exactly fit in with the children or the adults.  A quasi-kid.  Or a semi-adult.  Screenwriters/directors  Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who also play supporting roles) know those emotions and share them with us.  In a style that's simultaneously funny, touching, and painful.

Life as we all know it.

Young Duncan begrudgingly goes along on a family summer vacation.  Neither a kid or a grownup, Duncan is awkwardly in the middle.  Dealing with his mom's new boyfriend whom she really loves and he really hates.  Fitting in with a bunch of misfit adults spending their July at the summer shore by getting completely snockered or high.  And while puberty has set in, it's not yet firmly in control.

The makings of a horrible summer for Duncan.  And haven't we all been there just once?

Having just written my own Sunday Memory Drawer about a disastrous family trip to Pennsylvania Dutch Country, all of Duncan's emotions were fresh in my mind and totally on the surface.  It immediately all resonated with me.  As it likely did with my friends and the rest of the Dome audience.  We have all been there.  Perhaps not in broken households like Duncan's.  But ones that always seemed to be a bit frayed and just one small jolt from coming apart.  

Duncan seeks solace and acceptance at Water Wizz, a nearby water park.  There, he makes friends with the resident staff who all have their own problems and thereby can certainly relate to the kid. Some marvelous friendships form and Duncan realizes what's important in life.

So do we and there's no way we get that kind of life lesson from a masked cowboy and a wise-cracking Indian.

The cast of "The Way, Way Back" is spot-on perfect.  Of course, the central anchor is Duncan, wonderfully played by Liam James.  But, the adults are all marvelous as well.  Toni Collette as Duncan's mom and Allison Janney as the boozy neighbor are always welcome on a screen in front of me.  At Water Wizz,  Sam Rockwell and Maya Rudolph play the staff that embraces Duncan for who he is.  And, for those of you like me who despise Steve Carell, he is in the film as the nasty boyfriend.  But, the good news is that the character is so hateful, it's much easier to hiss at him with Carell in the role.  A win win.

Normally, I would tell you to run, don't walk to see "The Way, Way Back."  But, after this holiday weekend, maybe I don't have to.  You might be going all on your own.  Because if the only competition at the multiplex is "The Lone Ranger," you have no choice.

Yep, there is hope for all of us.

Amen!

LEN'S RATING:  THREE-AND-A-HALF STAR.

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.