Nat Faxon and Jim Rash might be best known for scooping an adapted screenplay Oscar alongside director Alexander Payne for The Descendants (and for spoofing Angelina Jolie’s leg stance at the ceremony), but they’ve now taken up the director’s chair together for their latest work, The Way, Way, Back. The trailer is up over at Apple.
Coming across as a blend of Little Miss Sunshine and Adventureland, the new comedy focuses on Duncan (Liam James), who is dismayed at the prospect of a summer holiday with his mother Pam (Toni Collette) and, more annoyingly, her overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell, having some fun playing a jerk).
Duncan’s always been the quiet type, and has trouble fitting in, but then he befriends Owen (Sam Rockwell), the charismatic, quirky manager of the local Water Wizz water park. Via Owen and the personalities who work at the park, Duncan comes out of his shell, and even tries romancing a local girl (AnnaSophia Robb). What could have been a nightmare becomes a summer to remember…
Rash (also a comedy genius as the Dean on TV’s Community) and Faxon have raided the rolodex to round up plenty of great people to support the main cast, with Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet all cropping up. This looks to be a charming, easy-going comedy with some emotional heft thrown in. There’s no sign of a UK date yet, but it’ll hit American cinemas on July 5.