The Way Back

Rating

B- (80/100)

Three words

Decent, Formulaic, Inspiring

Brief Review

A former standout basketball player returns to his high school to turn both his life and the team around. The Way Back is a fairly formulaic movie although it does have a few wrinkles. More or less though, you know what is going to happen going into it. However, that doesn’t make it a bad movie. Ben Affleck actually does a really good job and he really carries what could have been a poor movie. Despite having a fairly cliché plot, it still is an emotional movie. There are plenty of emotional swings that you can really feel because of how well Affleck plays the character. The Way Back is similar to Manchester by the Sea in that the movie has this constant sense of dread. Except the tone works much better in this movie because it isn’t overwhelmingly negative the entire time, unlike Manchester by the Sea (which I really did not like). There were definitely some touching scenes to break it up and the emotional aspect really does just enough to be a decent movie. Ultimately, I didn’t love this movie but it was a fine watch with some really good acting and at the very least it will leave you a little inspired.