Ben Affleck's performance is a wonder as an alcoholic former high school basketball star whose slide to hit bottom is slowed by coaching the team at his alma mater. Supporting cast includes Al Madrigal, Janina Gavankar, and Michaela Watkins as his assistant coach, ex-wife, and sister. The boys on the team are good, too.
Gavin O'Connor directs from a script by Brad Inglesby. I didn't really mind the slow pace.
The score by Rob Simonsen is available to stream on Spotify and for subscribers of Apple Music, among others.
Affleck and O'Connor were last blogged for The Accountant, Gavankar for Blindspotting, Watkins for Sword of Trust, and Simonsen for The Upside. Madrigal was a Daily Show correspondent and series regular on About a Boy, and Inglesby is new to me.
Rotten Tomatoes's critics and audiences are in the same court, averaging 83 and 84%.
Before the theatres went dark we saw the trailer for this movie many times and were looking forward to seeing it. On March 29, frustrated with failed efforts to stream something else, we went ahead and bought this one from iTunes (it will be available to rent in May). Buying it gave us access to two five minute shorts. In one, Affleck says that, as a recovering alcoholic, the story was particularly meaningful to him.
If you choose to stream this, be sure you get the right one called The Way Back. There are three features, 2010, 2003, and 1915, with that exact title, three other features also known as The Way Back, and a whole lot of shorts.
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