There’s an undeniable hook to The Way Back: Ben Affleck, fresh off a highly publicized battle with alcoholism, steps into the role of Jack Cunningham, a man fighting the same demons. On paper, it sounds like the kind of personal, raw performance that could turn a standard redemption story into something unforgettable. With Warrior director Gavin O’Connor at the helm, expectations were high for something deeply emotional and authentic.
But despite its real-world weight and the flashes of something greater, The Way Back never really finds its stride. It’s caught somewhere between character-driven indie drama and formulaic sports movie — and ends up not fully satisfying as either.
Affleck gives one of his better performances in recent years, playing Jack as a man weighed down by regret, rage, and years of unchecked drinking. There’s a chilling realism to how the movie captures alcoholism — not as wild nights gone wrong, but as a grim, joyless cycle. One of the film’s most effective scenes shows Jack at home, rotating beers from fridge to freezer in a robotic loop, drinking until the fridge stands empty and the night fades into a black hole. It’s not glamorous, it’s not even tragic in a grand way — it’s just sad, small, and utterly believable.
Where the movie stumbles is in Jack’s supposed redemption arc. He’s asked to coach the failing basketball team at his old high school, and after a moment’s hesitation, accepts. Why he decides to step back into that world is never really explored — it just happens. That lack of depth carries through most of the basketball storyline. Jack shows up, barks some orders, and before you know it, the team is winning. No real tension, no serious obstacles, no emotional payoff. The players are barely sketched in, each allowed maybe one scene to hint at a personality before being shuffled back to the bench.
Gavin O’Connor has proven he can crush a sports drama when he wants to (Miracle, Warrior), but here he seems strangely distant, as if he’s actively pulling back from the very emotions the movie needs to soar. The result is a film that checks off all the beats of a sports underdog story without ever committing to them. It feels half-hearted when it should feel electric.
Affleck does the heavy lifting, and you can feel how personal this role is for him. He dials down the charisma and plays Jack as someone almost allergic to hope. But the script, co-written by O’Connor and Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace), doesn’t give him enough to fully excavate the character. Instead of digging into the complicated, often messy roots of addiction, the film hands Jack a single traumatic event as a kind of neat explanation for everything. It’s a too-easy shortcut that undercuts the reality that sometimes, people spiral without one neat, tragic cause.
The supporting cast doesn’t fare much better. Jack’s ex-wife, played by Janina Gavankar (The Morning Show), barely registers, not because Gavankar isn’t capable, but because the script gives her nothing to work with. Their scenes feel stiff, ticking off emotional beats without any real spark, and in one particularly tone-deaf moment, she’s denied even a single line of dialogue in a supposedly pivotal scene.
The Way Back clearly mattered a lot to Affleck — you can feel it in every weary glance and defeated sigh — but it doesn’t quite translate into something that matters as much to the audience. There are glimpses of the raw, brutally honest film it could have been, especially in the early scenes of Jack’s isolated drinking. But whenever it inches toward something deeper, it retreats back into safe, predictable territory.
In the end, The Way Back is more therapeutic exercise than fully realized film. It circles its themes without ever truly digging into them, a frustrating almost-great movie that settles for being merely fine. It’s powerful in moments, especially if you know the real-life stakes behind the performance. But for most viewers, it lands with more of a whimper than a roar.
Movie Night with The Sober Curator Sobees Score: 3.5 out of 5
The Way Back (2020) Trailer
Additional Curated Reviews of The Way Back Starring Ben Affleck:
- What an Addiction Professional Thinks About Ben Affleck’s Portrayal in ‘The Way Back’
- Review: ‘The Way Back’ is like watching Ben Affleck star as himself – at his worst
- Ben Affleck Gives the Performance of His Career
- ‘The Way Back’ Review: Ben Affleck’s Comeback Story, in More Ways Than One
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