Tornare a vincere

Greetings again from the darkness. So much beer and booze. It would be easy to classify this latest from writer-director Gavin O'Connor as a sports movie. After all, he has given us two excellent ones in MIRACLE (2004) and WARRIOR (2011). However, as with those two films, there is much more going on here. This is about grief and addiction, and the difficulties in mending a life in tatters.

Jack Cunningham likes his morning shower. It helps get him prepare for a day of construction work and get over a late night of drinking. What's unusual about his morning routine is that he drinks a beer while taking his morning shower, and then fills his Yeti with gin as he takes his post at the building site. Jack is played by Ben Affleck, who has returned to the screen with a serious acting gig after his fling as Batman. Of course, anyone who even casually keeps up with Hollywood gossip knows Mr. Affleck and his character here have in common a drinking problem. In fact, the actor filmed this immediately after his latest rehab stint. It's quite possible that the collision of real life and fiction explain why this is Affleck's best performance in many years (at least since HOLLYWOODLAND in 2006). He re-teams here O'Connor, who directed him in THE ACCOUNTANT (2016).

Jack is a former high school basketball star whose life has turned out much differently than expected. His construction job is beating him down, alcohol abuse is slowly destroying him, and he recently split with his wife Angela (Janina Gavankar) after a tragedy. Has he hit rock bottom? It's likely he thinks so. As happens so often in life, an opportunity presents itself. The head Priest at his former catholic high school asks him to step in as basketball coach after the current coach has a heart attack. The team is terrible, and has been that way since Jack graduated 25 years ago. After a painful-to-watch evening of decision-making, Jack accepts the job.

As you would expect, it's a team of misfits who have little concept of teamwork. Affleck excels as a coach who evaluates the talent he has and devises a strategy to not only improve individual player performance, but also inject the philosophies of teamwork and cohesion and commitment. He does this with the help of Algebra teacher slash Assistant Coach Dan (Al Madrigal, "I'm Dying Up Here"), who appreciates what Jack brings to the position, but is also protective of the boys and the school mission.

Jack manages to stay sober while coaching, but we see how fine that line is for an addict. Life suddenly rears up and plops an emotional situation that is simply too much form him to handle. It's here when we realize that while it appeared coaching the team gave Jack a glimmer of hope for a better life, it also allowed him to ignore the personal issues and relationships that had driven him to the bottle. The basketball scenes are the most fun to watch, but it's the realistic life elements that elevate the story. It's excruciating to watch Jack re-telling glory days stories to his 'buddies' at the local neighborhood bar, only to be helped home by the same old man who used to carry his father home from the same bar. The perpetuation of misery is a story that is all too relatable for many.

Jack's good qualities are evident when he's prodding ultra-quiet point guard Brandon (Brandon Wilson) into taking on a leadership role and thinking of his future, but that's contrasted with his inconsiderate treatment of his sister Beth (Michaela Watkins) and Father Mark (Jeremy Radin), the team/school Chaplain. It's the two sides of Jack that so clearly resonate with those who have experienced addiction. This is a guy who botched his college/basketball opportunity, but managed to build a new life, only to have it snatched away in the cruelest way possible. It's imperative that he come to grips with all of that in some place other than the bottom of a beer mug.

The outstanding screenplay comes from Brad Ingelsby (OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2013), and with director O'Connor and the cast, the film has a throwback to the 70's feel ... gritty and realistic. This is not the smirking, strutting stud we are accustomed to seeing with Affleck. He seems immersed in the role and brings an understanding to the struggles, the rehab, and the importance of a support system. Redemption played a huge part in the classic HOOSIERS (1986) and most every other rag-tag sports team in movies, and THE WAY BACK shows us there really is no going back ... instead, we must deal with life in order to move on.

Ben Affleck was outstanding, no question there, as was the entire cast for that matter, but many little flaws held this film back from being great.

The annoying zoom-ins and shaky cam has been overdone and outdated - since The Office. There's no excuse this coming from experienced writer and director Gavin O'Connor, of which he and screenwriter Brad Ingelsby also needed to tell the story better.

The 108 min runtime wasn't used efficiently, as too much too fast happened in the last 15 mins, whereas up to that point, everything before that was more fluff than substance, with very slow pacing. I understand this film wasn't about basketball, and more about alcohol addiction, but had there been less fluff, with the message still coming across, and a better resolution that included the other 90% of the cast, this film would've been much better, instead of having lots of guts, and not enough glory. The score was also overbearing. It's a 7/10 from me, most of it for Affleck's performance.

Looks like a sports movie and it is, but only for 50%, because there is much more to this story:.Ben Affleck is an alcohol addicted basketball coach, who volunteers to coach a team of lousy amateurs at his old highschool. That's the sports part of the movie.

But there is a lot of (bleak) slowburning drama as well. Look at the poster. Ben Affleck looks depressed and he is. In this story Ben Affleck has lost his wife, his son has died and he has lost every dream or hope he has ever had. He only drinks himself into oblivion to numb his pain. Will he in some way be able to start coping with the death of his young son, which caused him to start drinking in the first place? That's the heart of this touching movie.

The good: Terrific acting performance of an alcohol addict by Ben Affleck. Subtle direction of this drama by director Gavin O Conner. Really touching and UPLIFTING story.

Any bad? Well, it's certainly not a straight forward success sports movie. It's quite bleak and depressing at moments, because the real focus of this movie is about Ben Affleck's alcohol addiction and some might not like to watch such a slowburning movie about such a bleak subject... I did though. I was really impressed...

Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) is an alcoholic construction worker separated from his wife Angela (Janina Gavankar) after a devastating tragedy. He is convinced to coach his alma mater Catholic high school Bishop Hayes basketball team. It's the site of his greatest glory where he threw away his potential and started a descent into addiction.

As a sports underdog story, this is very standard and straight forward. The most non-standard aspect of that happens at the end when it stops short. It's also very stripped down. The kids would normally get more screen time. Only one kid gets a functional character progression. Mostly, this is compelling for Ben Affleck playing a struggling alcoholic and director Gavin O'Connor trying to strip him down to the studs. My only complaint about his part is that he needs to show his self-destructiveness more overtly in the beginning. He should start in a bad place and then recover over the movie until he starts backsliding. It doesn't need to be a mystery.

Finding The Way Back is an incredible drama that's emotional and powerful, managing to use an extremely familiar narrative effectively. Ben Affleck gives a phenomenal and personal lead performance that's easily one of his best. Al Madrigal and Janina Gavankar are both great and all of the young cast are all really good. Gavin O'Connor's direction is excellent, it's extremely well filmed and well paced. The music by Rob Simonson is fantastic.