WAY WAY BACK

Steve Carell must be trying to present himself as a serious actor, instead of the wonderfully funny guy we are used to..  Well, sorry to say, he achieves that goal, and then some!  As the boyfriend of a single mother, played by Toni Collette, he picks on her 14 year old son, "Duncan" (Liam James)  saying mean and vicious things to him, to the point where I was hoping someone would shoot him.  What a depressing film!  What a lousy mother to let anyone treat  a child that way.  The only redeeming feature of the story is the part of a nice employee of a nearby Water Park played by Sam Rockwell, who befriends Duncan.   Frankly, I'm not a big fan of "coming of age" stories (I came of age a long, long time ago!) and that's what this is billed as.  It halfheartedly tries to end on a positive note (as if the mother finally , but not entirely, shows some fondness for Duncan.  Boo to Steve Carell -- please do NOT "play against type" ever again; I don't want to have to hate you.   (Acting is good, but story is depressing.)   Director: Jim Rash