Drama

The Way Back

Warner Bros. Pictures

Pearl Street Films

Mayhem Pictures

Bron Studios

United States of America

Canada

English

Italiano

Ben Affleck

Al Madrigal

Michaela Watkins

Janina Gavankar

Glynn Turman

Melvin Gregg

Brandon Wilson

Will Ropp

Fernando Luis Vega

Charles Lott, Jr.

Ben Irving

Da'Vinchi

John Aylward

T.K. Carter

Rachael Carpani

Todd Stashwick

Nancy Linehan Charles

Dan Lauria

Chris Bruno

Matthew Glave

Jeremy Ratchford

Jayne Taini

Jeremy Radin

Nico David

Emelia Golfieri

Layla Golfieri

Sal Velez Jr.

Yeniffer Behrens

Eric Tate

Christine Horn

Josh Latzer

Manny Streetz

Justice Alan

Jay Abdo

Joshua Hubbard

James P. Harkins

Mike G.

April Adams

Chieko Hidaka

Bronwen O'Connor

Charlotte Evelyn Williams

Kayla Díaz

Doc Jacobs

Marlene Forte

Shay Roundtree

Chad Mountain

Sandy Fletcher

Noah Ballou

Cynthia Rose Hall

Calvin Barber

Dino Lauro

Roman Mathis

Herbert Morales

Mateo Ortiz

Tyler O'Malley

Tom Archdeacon

Brian Nuesi

Edelyn Okano

Carly Schneider

Caleb Thomas

Hayes MacArthur

Alexander Tassopoulos

Mason Blomberg

Gavin O'Connor

Jennifer Todd

Gordon Gray

Steven A. Morrow

Ravi D. Mehta

Craig Dollinger

Bryan Mendoza

Ellen Dorros

Bradley Rubin

Cindy Evans

Eduard Grau

David Rosenbloom

Brad Ingelsby

Mark Ciardi

Bob Dohrmann

Kevin McCormick

Aaron L. Gilbert

Jason Cloth

Kaitlyn Taaffe Cronholm

Madison Ainley

Keith P. Cunningham

Wendy O'Brien

Brittany Hapner

Rob Simonsen

Gabe Hilfer

Victor Ho

Kevin Lum

Jamie Marshall

Bruce Jones

Douglas A. Mowat

Paul Sonski

Linia Marie Hardy

Brittany Bradford

Stephanie Charbonneau

Andrew Campbell

Michael LaCorte

Fred Haft

Jane Madden

Tom McComas

Oliver Keller

Courtney Farnsworth

Allan Graf

Craigory Glen Hunter

Lauren Shaw

B R Lamar

David Rowden II

J.P. Jones

Rick Chavez

Steve Gehrke

Peter Rosenfeld

Richard Foreman Jr.

Michael Merriman

Stephen MacDougall

Jordan Pellegrini

Jesse Cain

Seth A. Peschansky

Jesse Tyler

Curt Sobel

Anna Rottke

Joe Rosenbloom

Mark Mangini

Byron Wilson

Bob Kellough

Ezra Dweck

Mark Coffey

Christopher S. Aud

Gary Summers

Walter Spencer

Mike Horton

Tim McKeown

Tami Treadwell

Jason Oliver

Sandy Kenyon

Jo Kissack Folsom

Natasha Romanow

Paul Corricelli

Cindy Rosenthal

John M. 'Jack' Wright

Jennifer Zide

Gerald Quist

Kristin Wahl

Elizabeth Cortez

Mark McCarthy

Jerardo Gomez

Michael Anderson

Jim Leidholdt

Christian Franz Staab

Timothy White

Andrew Potter

Roy Prophet

Michael Brown

Brian Corpuz

KB Pugliese

Demelza Cronin

Jesse Trinidad

Kelly A. Snyder

Manuel São Bento

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @
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I’m not the greatest fan of inspirational sports dramas, but I also never disliked one. They all follow this storytelling formula that everyone recognizes, but it’s always successful. The protagonist is a miserable human being due to some tragic past. He gets another shot at life, usually an underdog situation, and he ultimately overcomes whatever challenge is thrown at him, including his addictions if he has any. Everyone lives “happily ever after”, and the viewer leaves the theater with a smile because that’s how it makes us feel.

It’s incredibly easy to root for an underdog trying to raise its level and to reach something it never believed in. In The Way Back, the basketball team is awful, but Jack teaches them not only how to play better, but how to be a better *team*. Then, it’s just like the synopsis: a win here and there gets everyone back on track, and it’s very entertaining to watch these young kids “grow up” in every possible way. As a sportsman myself, several little details help me enjoy this type of movies even more.

However, it’s a straightforward variation of the same cliche, predictable story… until one point. There’s one genuinely surprising development I didn’t see coming. I don’t know if it was due to my “defenses being down” or if Gavin O’Connor and Brad Ingelsby really did a great job at hiding it until the right moment, but it definitely worked.

The lack of character-building regarding the secondary ones is probably my biggest issue aside from the formulaic screenplay. There’s one young kid that still has some sort of an arc, but it never gets the deserved consideration. It’s a very protagonist-centered film, and there’s nothing truly wrong with that, especially when Ben Affleck delivers one of his career-best performances. I left him for last because I do believe the whole movie succeeds due to his impressively captivating display.

A lot of people talk about how Affleck’s own life and his past struggles with addiction make this a personal interpretation in the sense that he’s just portraying himself. Some people even diminished his performance by saying that “it’s easier to represent ourselves than a fictional character”, which I couldn’t disagree more. It’s an arduous task interpreting a version of our personality, let alone a very somber, sad part of it. It’s not only an enormous acting challenge but also a terrifying personal test.

I digress. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about Affleck’s personal life, or anyone’s for that matter. People should stop trying to bring external themes to reviews, it’s one of the first principles film critics learn (but have unfortunately forgotten with time). I don’t know if his experience with addiction helped him with his performance or not, but he looks incredibly committed to his role. He elevates his character, and he carries the whole movie on his shoulders. Brilliant, emotional, and very realistic interpretation of someone dealing with depression, frustration, anger, and an addiction issue.

All in all, The Way Back is an inspirational sports drama that follows the genre’s stereotypes and formulaic storytelling, but it’s still very successful in its execution. The secondary characters lack development, but there’s nothing wrong with a protagonist-centered story as long as the main actor delivers an exceptional display. Something Ben Affleck does in an emotionally powerful manner, delivering a genuine portrayal of someone with a tragic past and lots of personal issues. I believe it’s one of his career-best performances. Jack might follow every storyline that ever existed in this genre, but Ben Affleck is reason enough to give Gavin O’Connor’s flick a go.

Rating: B

The Way Back (2020) is a return to form for Ben Affleck following an aimless second half of the previous decade – specifically his ill-advised stint in the DC Universe. In this drama directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Brad Ingelsby (co-writer of the excellent Out of the Furnace), Affleck plays Jack Cunningham, a former high school star basketball player turned alcoholic construction worker who reluctantly accepts a coaching job at his alma mater.

How do we know he's an alcoholic? Well, drinking beer in the shower is certainly not a good sign (and there are many others), but it’s mostly Affleck, who not only looks and sounds but for all intents and purposes is the part, turning in a cathartic, demon-exorcising performance.

The central portion of the film is by design an abridged version of every high school basketball movie ever made. It’s done competently, with a knowledge of and appreciation for the game of hoops, as well as a sense of humor, but it’s nevertheless an afterthought; it would also be a foregone conclusion, if the script had actually been leading up all along to that buzzer-beating, game-winning, hail Mary shot that shortly segues into a freeze frame of Jack’s triumphantly grinning mug.

Its Cinderella story – minus the fairytale happy ending – seems taken right out of many a Hollywood melodrama (because it actually is), but TWB is not – regardless of what All Movie or IMDb may tell you – a sports movie, nor is it about basketball like Hoosiers, or about inner city kids like Coach Carter; its scenes of on-court action and sideline banter, deftly choreographed and zestfully written and delivered but offering little new (other than comically pairing the Foulmouthed Coach with the catholic high school’s “team chaplain”), exist solely to make a point – and a very well made and well taken point it is.

This narrative shorthand serves an overarching character study into which the filmmakers have put quite a lot more thought and work, revolving around a man who seemingly drinks just for the sake of getting drunk, and then gradually pulling back to reveal the underlying causes for, and consequences of, his alcoholism. It is said that hitting rock bottom is the beginning of the road to recovery, and the film uses basketball to pull Jack up, push him farther down, and ultimately pull him back up again.

Finding The Way Back - 10 Minute Preview - Warner Bros. UK

THE WAY BACK - Official Trailer 2

Official Trailer

Best Movies

The Way Back

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Ben Affleck

Al Madrigal

Michaela Watkins

Janina Gavankar

Glynn Turman

Melvin Gregg

Brandon Wilson

Will Ropp

Fernando Luis Vega

Charles Lott, Jr.

Box office

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