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The Way Back

2020

Gavin O'Connor

Ben Affleck, Janina Gavankar, Al Madrigal, Sal Velez Jr. ...

6.0

6,457

Drama Jack Cunningham is a separated, former basketball young star in a struggle with addiction and attempts to comeback by becoming the coach of a disparate, ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.

	Author	Review
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"[A] sad and sobering drama (...) Affleck's underplayed performance as an alcoholic basketball coach might be the most personal work he’s ever done on screen"	POS
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"An entirely appealing underdog story (...) the gritty realism of the environment provides the film with a vivid societal context."	POS
United States	Alison Willmore Vulture	"'The Way Back' is too good of a movie to be looked at only as the first mile marker on Ben Affleck’s comeback journey"	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"'The Way Back' is a perfectly watchable movie, but it’s far from a home run (...) there’s a more compelling addiction drama staring us right in the face. Namely, the story of Ben Affleck"	NEU
United States	Todd Gilchrist The Wrap	"A rich character drama about loss, addiction and self-destruction (...) The Way Back” proves to be the kind of hero’s journey that audiences really need, even if it’s not the one they think they want."	POS
United States	Charles Bramesco AV Club	"Between the known metatext and Affleck’s bone-deep commitment, this moving central performance largely purges the film of its high potential for the maudlin."	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Grierson Screendaily	"'The Way Back' doesn’t reinvent the sports-movie playbook (...) But the sturdy storytelling has considerable merit in the hands of O’Connor"	POS
United States	Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"O’Connor works so hard to avoid sports movie cliché that he pares the film down to something unsustainably lean. Without Affleck’s gravity, The Way Back would just drift away."	NEU
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"'The Way Back' sits awkwardly between muted character study and Disney sports movie, mercifully shying away from sentimental cliche yet failing to add enough depth (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Mara Reinstein US Weekly	"There are moments in this film when it’s impossible to know where the character of Jack Cunningham ends and Affleck begins (...) a fascinating and insightful portrayal (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Brian Truitt USA Today	"The best thing O’Connor does here, as he also did with the underrated 'The Accountant,' is let Affleck remind us once again that he’s a first-class actor (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"An ex-basketball star gets a second chance at life as a coach — and a star gets a chance to remind you why you loved him in the first place (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
Ireland	Brian Lloyd entertainment.ie	"An honest, open-hearted story about redemption and renewal (...) with a powerful, awards-worthy performance from Affleck (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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