The Way Back (2020)
Directed by Gavin O'Connor
A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction, attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.
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Is it kind of like Hoosiers ?
The scrappy high school underdog basketball tale in the style of “Hoosiers,” or “The Mighty Ducks,” directed by “Warrior” helmer Gavin O’Connor bears the weight of our parasocial relationship with star Ben Affleck.
In some ways it reminded me of “Hoosiers” but it is not as much about basketball as it is the return journey of an alcoholic to re-enter his life and reconnect with his family.
A couple of relatively subtle tips of the hat to Hoosiers notwithstanding, and a pivotal last-second buzzer-beater aside, Brad Ingelsby’s script doesn’t spend much time concerning itself with the on-court antics of the Bishop Hayes High School Varsity Basketball Team for much of its 108-minute running time.
There are moments where “The Way Back” simply feels like O’Connor and co-writer Brad Inglesby watched “Hoosiers” one night and alit on the idea of combining the Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper roles into one character.
That you can more or less fill in the blanks of what happens next means that “The Way Back” is an addiction drama that is also a genre movie — it’s like “Hoosiers” seen through a shot glass darkly.
Con una mesura emocional que se equipara a la de Manchester by the Sea , el otro hermano Affleck demuestra que bajo el mando de un talentoso director como lo es Gavin O’Connor, éste es capaz de brindarnos una excelente y compleja interpretación.
In that way, this is closer to a “Manchester by the Sea” than a “Hoosiers.”
The Way Back wants to be Manchester by the Sea on the hardwood, but it’s more like Hoosiers with a hangover.
It plays out a little like a cross between Hoosiers and Manchester by the Sea.
The arc is heavy-handed and predictable, and we’ve seen it all before and with more nuance in richer films such as Casey Affleck’s Manchester by the Sea .
As it becomes more overtly melodramatic, the film becomes less emotionally effective, straining for massive moments as if Affleck had gotten jealous of kid brother Casey’s “Manchester By The Sea.”
He's ably aided by the gritty cinematography of Eduard Grau (Boy Erased), brisk editing of David Rosenbloom (Friday Night Lights), and moody score by Rob Simonsen (Foxcatcher).
Even the shaky-cam, natural-lighting shooting style — which gives the games a lived-in, organic feel — is straight out of Friday Night Lights .
Like all the best sports movies—from Friday Night Lights to Hoosiers to Field of Dreams—this one has more on its mind than the game clock and the scoreboard.
The Way Back borrows conventions from such jock uplift films as Remember the Titans and Friday Night Lights but violates inspirational movie principles.
With Miracle and Warrior , The Way Back forms a kind of trilogy for O’Connor of hard-edged male weepies about the redemptive power of sport.
O’Connor, who previously helmed Miracle and Warrior , crafts his best sports drama yet thanks to Brad Ingelsby‘s thoughtful script and Ben Affleck‘s terrific lead performance.
The scrappy high school underdog basketball tale in the style of “Hoosiers,” or “The Mighty Ducks,” directed by “Warrior” helmer Gavin O’Connor bears the weight of our parasocial relationship with star Ben Affleck.
The movie is directed by Gavin O’Connor, whose mixed-martial-arts drama “Warrior” (2011) also brimmed with grit and a sense of place.
With The Way Back , O’Connor is returning to the well of Warrior , his 2011 film about MMA-fighting brothers and their stern dad that has become a modern classic of the sports drama genre.
Scott Tobias for The Ringer called O’Connor, who previously directed Miracle and Warrior , among others, “The next great sports movie director.”
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The trouble is, despite a couple of decent performances at its heart and a nice shift behind the camera from Eduard Grau ( Buried ) The Way Back just never achieves lift off.
The Southern California setting tends to feel a bit downplayed by DP Eduard Grau ( A Single Man , 2009; Buried , 2010), but overall, The Way Back is a pleasant surprise and conversation piece just as it is a reminder of Affleck’s abilities in the right material.
There's also a hint of Tom Hanks' Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own, as a star athlete-turned-fall-down-drunk who earns redemption through coaching.
Gavin O’Connor and Ben Affleck, the dynamic duo that brought audiences the highly acclaimed The Accountant , have crafted a gripping redemption story and an engaging sports drama to boot.
The Way Back ’s ultimate failure as a sports movie reminded me that Gavin O’Connor’s best movie isn’t about sports: his best movie is The Accountant , starring Ben Affleck as an autistic accountant assassin (which, like The Way Back , also comes from Warner Bros).
A little over three years after their surprisingly strong pairing in The Accountant , the duo re-team for The Way Back , a generally non-cliché tale of alcoholism and redemption via youth sports that’s elevated by strong performances and the power of the unseen.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor (reuniting with his The Accountant star), The Way Back is a standard sports drama that doubles as an affecting redemption story — for both Affleck and the character he’s playing.
Ben Affleck y el director Gavin O’Connor, quienes trabajaron juntos en el thriller del 2016 titulado The Accountant , vuelven a hacer mancuerna en The Way Back (El Camino de Regreso).
Ben Affleck’s new film, The Way Back , directed by Gavin O’Conner ( The Accountant ), is a story we’ve heard before, but can still identify with on many levels.