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The Way Back

6.1

2,248

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Original title

The Way Back aka

AKA

Finding The Way Back

Year

2020

Running time

108 min.

Country

United States

Director

Gavin O'Connor

Screenwriter

Brad Ingelsby, Gavin O'Connor

Music

Rob Simonsen

Cinematography

Eduard Grau

Cast

Producer

Warner Bros., Bron Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Mayhem Pictures, Pearl Street Films (Distributor: Warner Bros.)

Genre

Drama | Sports. Basketball. Alcoholism

Synopsis / Plot

A widowed, former basketball all-star lost family foundation 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.

Critics' reviews

"[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"

David Ehrlich: IndieWire
"An entirely appealing underdog story (...) the gritty realism of the environment provides the film with a vivid societal context."

Todd McCarthy: The Hollywood Reporter
"'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"

Alison Willmore: Vulture
"'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"

Owen Gleiberman: Variety
"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."

Todd Gilchrist: The Wrap
"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."

Charles Bramesco: AV Club
"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."

Richard Lawson: Vanity Fair
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Ranking Lists Position

81 My favorite 2020 movies (9)

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