RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
The coming-of-age story is a tradition of summer movies, something about three months of sun and no school. And today in theaters, "The Way, Way Back," a tale of a shy, awkward teenage boy taken under the wing of a sweetly demented manager of a summer water park, it's written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who as screenwriters hit Hollywood gold when they won an Oscar for their adaptation of "The Descendants," starring George Clooney. "The Way, Way Back" has a stellar lineup of comedic talent: Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney - not surprising, considering the two directors first met doing improvised comedy here in L.A. Nat Faxon and Jim Rash joined us to talk about the film. Welcome to the program.
NAT FAXON: Oh, thank you.
JIM RASH: Thank you very much.
MONTAGNE: Now, this movie begins with a conversation that sounds like the beginning of a dreadful summer vacation. You have Steve Carell playing against type...
RASH: Yeah.
MONTAGNE: ...he's a bully - who's driving his new girlfriend and her son to his beach house, and he starts needling her son, asking him: How would you rate yourself?
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE WAY, WAY BACK")
MONTAGNE: Whoa. So that exchange takes place between Steve Carell and Liam James, who plays Duncan, the boy, who is sitting in the way, way back of the boyfriend's...
FAXON: Yes.
MONTAGNE: ...vintage station wagon, not a great start to a summer vacation.
(LAUGHTER)
RASH: No. You know, that actual scene is autobiographical in the sense that that actual conversation, pretty verbatim, happened to me when I was 14.
MONTAGNE: Now, Jim Rash, this is you talking.
RASH: Yes, yes. And so we sort of just ripped that from my pain headlines...
(LAUGHTER)
RASH: ...within my youth and plugged it into the movie because we thought it was a great way to start this coming-of-age story. And, you know, obviously, when the character wasn't exactly my stepfather, but, you know, even in the movie, it's like Duncan hears these harsh words, but, honestly, something, you know, sort of sneaks its way into his brain because he eventually leaves the beach house and discovers this eclectic water park and has this really - rite of passage in this summer of his life.
MONTAGNE: At the water park, Duncan meets a classic man-child who happens to be managing the place. Nat Faxon, let me ask you, tell us about Owen.
FAXON: Yeah. Owen was loosely modeled after one of our cinematic heroes, Bill Murray from "Meatballs." That was the template in writing the character. And this sort of freewheeling charismatic guy whose, you know, confidence comes from his personality.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "MEATBALLS")
MONTAGNE: That was Bill Murray in the 1979 film "Meatballs." He was a camp counselor and...
FAXON: Right.
MONTAGNE: ...very much a summer movie.
RASH: Yes.
FAXON: Yes, exactly. And the character was very much - exuded that confidence and that mentorship, and I think that was - those were qualities that we certainly saw in Owen.
RASH: You know, he was a quintessential extrovert, which is what Owen is, you know, someone who feeds off the energy of his audience. And that was sort of very important to have as what Owen was and what that water park does for him for three months out of the year.
MONTAGNE: We're going to play a clip of tape of him, and this is a pretty typical exchange, in this case with his fellow worker and a love interest, who's played by Maya Rudolph.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE WAY, WAY BACK")
(LAUGHTER)
RASH: You know, it's funny as Sam made the choice to sing that line. That was the line we wrote...
FAXON: And dance.
RASH: ...and dance to it, which was fantastic.
MONTAGNE: Yeah. Sam Rockwell, the actor, of course, playing Owen. His - well, you know, this movie does have quite a bit of nostalgia about it. I mean there is that vintage station wagon. There's a song from REO Speedwagon that figures prominently.
RASH: Yes.
MONTAGNE: The water park itself has a feeling of another time. Did you consider setting this, you know, in the 1980s?
FAXON: Yeah. The very first draft we ever wrote, it was set in the '80s, but only for a brief second. One, it changes your budget right away.
MONTAGNE: Because you would have to have period cars...
FAXON: Yes.
MONTAGNE: ...and all kinds of expensive things.
RASH: Exactly.
FAXON: Yes, yes. But more importantly just - and I think it was a great thought is to make it timeless, to sort of blur the lines a little bit.
RASH: I think also summer has that type of feel. It feels like you're less connected to technology a lot of times when you're on a summer vacation. Old beach houses sometimes don't have TVs, or you don't get cell phone reception. And so that nostalgia theme and that timelessness really made its way into every discussion we had in terms of how we wanted to shoot the movie and see the movie.
MONTAGNE: Well, you know, I'm wondering the two of you - you're writing partners. How much fun do you have when you're writing together?
FAXON: Fun?
MONTAGNE: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTAGNE: Exactly.
FAXON: All right. You know, we hold hands...
RASH: ...while we're reading, and one of us is typing, and the other is just...
(LAUGHTER)
FAXON: The other one is supporting the one typing and saying you're doing a good job.
(LAUGHTER)
FAXON: No, we - not to get mushy, but we were friends before all of this began. You know, we met 15 years ago. And I think we always make sure that our working relationship never jeopardizes any of that.
RASH: I like to think that my (unintelligible)...
FAXON: And I'm - someone just shed a tear from what I just said because...
(LAUGHTER)
RASH: I literally can't contain my weeping.
FAXON: But it sounds like you can.
(LAUGHTER)
RASH: Well...
(LAUGHTER)
FAXON: What were you going to say? I interrupted Nat...
RASH: No.
FAXON: ...and I'm trying to be a good friend.
RASH: That's a good little piece of our relationship, me trying to get a word in and Jim just steamrolling over...
FAXON: And we're out of time, and we're out of time.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTAGNE: Well, thank you both very much for joining us and good luck with the film.
RASH: Thank you very much.
FAXON: Thanks so much.
RASH: Thanks for having us.
MONTAGNE: Jim Rash and Nat Faxon wrote and directed "The Way, Way Back." It opens today.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "CAN'T FIGHT THIS FEELING")
REO SPEEDWAGON: ...And I can't fight this feeling anymore...
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