Years ago, I saw Sam Rockwell play Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It was the incredible story of the Gong Show host and his actual secret life as a CIA assassin. (Or was it all a fantasy? No one really knows.)
Years later, I saw Sam Rockwell again as Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2. I didn’t really make the connection that it was the same actor.
A month ago, Niki and I saw The Way, Way Back. It’s one of the best films we’ve seen in a long time, about a kid with family problems who sneaks off and works at a water park while on vacation in Massachusetts. The guy who runs the park is played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell. At this point, I’m a fan.
A few weeks ago, I watched The Seven Psychopaths on a flight back from L.A. It starred Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson. It was dark and disturbing and I loved it. Now I’m a superfan.
As we were leaving Cape Cod last Sunday we decided to look up that water park from The Way, Way Back. It’s called Water Wizz and it wasn’t far from the road we’d be taking out of town. In the movie, they took great care to make it look way more remote than it really is. In reality it’s right next to a major road and it’s surrounded by fast food restaurants.
It was wild to be there so soon after seeing the movie though. A great coincidence.
Brian Alvey 