The Way Back Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Way Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Another shot.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 25, 2020

Gavin O'Connor's sports drama The Way Back isn't a prequel to this 2013 film, nor is it as clichéd as it reads on first glance: middle-aged white guy saves a struggling basketball team. Like some of the genre's better entries, it favors the characters over the sport but, more than usual, both of these halves are dependent on one another which gives the film some of its balance. Affleck plays Jack Cunningham, a struggling alcoholic who's separated from his wife and is having trouble connecting with his own family members as well. He's contacted one morning by Father Devine from Bishop Hayes High School, the alma mater where Jack's jersey number still hangs from the rafters, because they need a new head coach. Jack needs a good reason to stay out of the bar, so this seems like a win-win situation.

Unfortunately, it's not a smooth adjustment. The team has promise but is rough around the edges, mainly because its players -- including talented but docile point guard Brandon (Brandon Wilson), ladies' man Kenny (Will Ropp), and cocky center Marcus (Melvin Gregg) -- are almost totally unable to gel as a unit. Assistant coach Dan (Al Madrigal) provides support and is sometimes even a go- between for the players and their leader, but they still suffer one loss after another. All the while Jack constantly retreats to alcohol, either by himself or in social situations, and it's not long before that addiction affects his coaching in the same way it's ruined every other part of his life. On the other hand, his team gradually improves -- sometimes despite their leader's increasingly erratic behavior -- and they even seem to have a shot at making the playoffs for the first time since Jack was on the team decades ago. Sadly, this does little to change his mindset and, after hearing bad news from a family friend, he falls back even further.

Early on, The Way Back hints at the deeper roots of Jack's depression but they are fully dug up as his team pushes onward. The typical path of sports dramas is once again subverted here: basketball glory feels a little less important once Jack's private struggles are eventually drug out into the light. If you'll excuse the pun, this makes for quite a sobering experience but its ultimately hopeful third act still has the cathartic rush of a game-winning shot.

In the wrong hands, The Way Back would've been a pleasantly lukewarm underdog story: one that might feel right at home a few decades ago, before an endless glut of slow-motion buzzer beaters and soaring music cues beat the genre into submission. And while this film doesn't entirely avoid clichés, it certainly sidesteps a few of them in creative ways. As mentioned earlier, Jack's private life is the real focal point and this creates a more interesting and unpredictable narrative, even if the byproduct is a largely underwritten group of high school basketball players. Ben Affleck's central performance, partially based on his own struggles with alcoholism, feels extremely authentic and those who have also traveled down this road my find The Way Back too close for comfort. The supporting performances, including those by Al Madrigal and Melvin Gregg, are also examples of good characters strengthened by great casting.

As someone with more experience in basketball than beer I felt somewhat out of my element, but The Way Back is objectively a labor of love and its most intimate and personal moments can be extremely effective. At the very least the film occupies its own territory and, for that alone, it's well worth checking out. (Hell, even if you're just in it for the performances you'll consider this time well spent.) Warner Bros.' Blu-ray package, unfortunately, isn't their strongest effort: the A/V presentation is decent enough -- even with no available 4K option -- but the lack of substantial bonus features, combined with very limited replay value, might not make The Way Back an ideal blind buy.

The Way Back Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although I am unaware of The Way Back's source resolution or digital intermediate, Warner Bros.' 1080p presentation is obviously a high-quality effort with very few drawbacks. This is a largely low-lit film with plenty of dark and shadowy interiors, with the main exceptions being brightly-lit gymnasiums and occasional daytime exterior shots. The Blu-ray's 1080p transfer handles just about about location equally well, with a slight advantage obviously going to any scene whose higher light levels reveal more texture and deeper levels of contrast. Colors are largely neutral with plenty of muted tones -- bold primaries are few and far between, but all seem evenly saturated with no signs of bleeding. Also absent are digital eyesores such as compression artifacts and heavy banding, although a few fainter signs of the latter could be spotted within harsher gradients. While The Way Back is clearly not a visually ambitious film by design, it plays its limited hand right and, in almost every regard, is hardly disappointing within those boundaries.

The Way Back Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although The Way Back's Dolby Atmos credentials sound lofty on paper, it's hardly the most obvious candidate for this format. To be clear, this isn't due to some sort of defect, nor does it seem to suffer from the lower-level mix granted to several recent Warner Bros. releases (not to mention just about everything from Disney. It's just not a film with a truly aggressive sound design: height channels are rarely used, usually only during game time or even empty arenas to capture faint but very distinct echoes. Other than that, this might as well be a standard 7.1 or even 5.1 surround track -- and within those more scaled-back parameters, it performs just fine with very clear dialogue, a handful of stray channel-panning effects, and very good use of placement during crowded conversations. The original score by Rob Simonsen offers more subtle atmospheric complements than front-and-center focus, which also contributes to some of the surround activity. Overall, it's a perfectly serviceable mix that doesn't suffer from obvious defects like sync issues or bad mixing, but just don't go in expecting Atmos with a capital "A" and you'll be fine.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and both key extras. These are formatted nicely and fit just inside the 2.39:1 frame.

The Way Back Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release arrives in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and a Digital Copy redemption slip. On-disc bonus features are surprisingly minimal and, though entertaining on the surface, not very in- depth at all.

• The Way Back: This Sporting Life (5:25) - Director Gavin O'Connor and several key members of the cast and crew, including Ben Affleck and a few of his "players", speak briefly about the sports film genre, balancing both sides of the film, and how The Way Back attempted to avoid typical genre clichés.

• Every Loss Is Another Fight: The Road to Redemption: (5:21) - Many of the same participants discuss central character Jack Cunningham's crippling alcoholism, with Ben Affleck also briefly opening up about his own struggles in the past. It's a thoughtful piece but likewise could have been expanded a bit more.

The Way Back Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gavin O'Connor's The Way Back plays with a pretty big handicap: mainly, the crowded genre it can't help but fall into. Yet it seems to constantly fight out of the box, dodging clichés that would have made it a three-star film at the very most. A careful balance is largely maintained from start to finish, even as it subverts genre expectations multiple times, and the performances (most notably by Ben Affleck) are very good to excellent. Although anyone who's been down the long, dark road of extreme alcohol dependency may find The Way Back much too close for comfort, this is ultimately an uplifting tale that doesn't always depend on easy solutions or slow-motion buzzer beaters. Warner Bros' Blu-ray package offers a little less support than expected, and no 4K option either. While the A/V presentation is objectively fine -- or at least accurate to the source material -- there are next to no extras here and that's pretty disappointing. Established fans might consider this worth a purchase, but it really feels more like a "try before you buy" disc.