***

The Way, Way Back- rm   It is not an easy feat to make a coming of age movie that gets grown adults to identify with a kid who is supposed to be 14 and barely looks that age. In our opinion Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (Oscar winning writers for the Descendants), the duo who wrote and directed this film (and also gave themselves small to medium acting roles in it ) successfully just did that with us. By the end we were rooting for the kid and had a tear in our eyes. Steve Carrell steps out of his comedic shoes and does a formidable job playing Trent, the intense but not quite true blue boyfriend of Pam (Toni Collette), who is taking  her son Duncan (Liam James) along with Trent’s  daughter to his summer New England beach house. Duncan is struggling with  his unhappiness with his divorced family and this summer excursion that he doesn’t want to be on. . They meet next door neighbor bubbly friendly Betty (Allison Janney) her son and daughter who become important characters in what unfolds. There are other summer people including a flirtatious housewife played by Amanda Peet. We begin to appreciate everybody’s situation and most of all how Duncan feels. The plot has a fairy tale quality but instead of a castle there is a big water ride and a bunch of grown ups who work at the water ride and befriend Duncan. The most improbable of this group is Owen  (Sam Rockwell). He is very funny, one of the supervisors of the water enterprise and immediately sensitive and insightful into the struggling Duncan. We would have to picture him as the big brother or ideal cool dad that we are sure Duncan  would have loved to have had . Owens’s girl friend is Caitlin (Maya Rudolph), a bit wiser than the others, but delightful. Two other workers in this water ride are blended into the story and are played as previously mentioned by the directors and writers of  the film. These director/writers should also get credit along with Mr. James who successfully inhabits Duncan for the sensitive depiction of the pain, suffering , determination and triumph that he projects on the screen  as he ultimately finds himself. (2013)

****

The Descendants-rm  This movie immediately puts you into the life crisis of a man(George Clooney) as he come to grips with the fact that his wife who on life support in a  coma after a water skiing  accident is about to die. He is confronted with the question of what kind of a husband has he been, as well as the nature of his relationship with his two children. His learning something about his wife that would be devastating to any man then complicates things and sets the trajectory of the story. Clooney out does himself with one of his finest performances where he starts off as an insensitive, somewhat awkward husband who also obviously has not been a very good father and is now overwhelmed with what he is facing. He evolves throughout the movie to connect to his daughters, as they become a team with a mission with a 4th member (Nick Krause) who is the older daughter’s boyfriend and provides some help in understanding his plight as well as a comedic touch. Clooney emerges as a now likeable guy who appears to have accepted his tragic circumstances and you believe is going to make the best of it.  Aside from Clooney there are two standout performances. One is by Shailene Woodley as the 17-year-old daughter who goes from a bratty teenager to a caring sister and daughter who is wise beyond her age. This is her first major role and is clear that she has a great future. The other star is the beautiful state of Hawaii with its magnificent vistas and breathtaking coastline as well as it’s unique history which are all part of the storyline of this movie. However, much of the credit of the success of this move should be given to director Alexander  Payne (Sideways) who brought out excellent performances by his two younger cast members (Woodley and Amara Miller) . There also was the every effective Hawaiian musical background provided by Dondi Bastone and Richard Ford. The film is based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings  and the screenplay is by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.  Payne probably could have worked with many other very fine male leads and ended up with an excellent film as this one is. However, the presence of Clooney will assure it the attention which it deserves and demonstrates once again the versatility of this great actor.