The Wackness (2008)

That was an excellent one.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I almost turned off the movie after about 30 minutes. I kept waiting for something to happen. Then I was taken by surprise as I realized that all of a sudden, amazingly... the movie went places. From first love to shrinking the therapist, the movie did a nice job wrapping up all the well written and well played characters. Ben Kingsley was brilliant as usual. The evolution of the main character was superb as a coming of age film. Turned out all right.It took most of the movie to reveal what the heck "wackness" even means. Here's a comparison: The theory of Dopeness vs. Wackness. Dope people are loose, laid back, abuse substances, and tend to be stuck in a routine. Wack people are high-strung, stress riding, self esteem doubting, and optimistic about change.This film is set in 1994. The soundtrack is loaded down with period music, primarily driven by hip hop (or rap... depending on how old you are) but augmented with some classic gems. I'm not a fan of hip hop, but it wasn't a problem for me to still enjoy the movie. The themes of tagging, partying, drugging, and "hip hop" language seemed a little forced at times, but really captured the nineties.For a slow start, and minimal sub plots with no significant conflicts, I'll give it 8 out of 10.Rated R for pervasive drug use, language and some sexuality.http://fcmclub.blogspot.com/2010/04/wackness-2008.html

It's the summer of '94 in Giuliani's New York City. Friendless Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) deals drugs from his ices cart, and his parents are constantly fighting. He trades pot for therapy from psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley). Luke falls for Jeffrey's stepdaughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby). She treats him like a friend at first, but he wants so much more.I wasn't sold on Josh Peck's performance at first, but it kind of grew on me. He's aimless, tired, and cynical. Ben Kingsley's character isn't much better. He spends his days smoking weed, and he rather do some groping on Mary-Kate Olsen. Olivia Thirlby plays the closest thing to a full grown adult in this movie or is she the most damaged? Director/writer Jonathan Levine brings these characters to life even though there isn't much life in these characters. It has a certain low energy charm to it all.

This film is very underrated and is a personal favourite of mine. This Movie perfectly portrays the 90s with a cool soundtrack and nostalgic dialogue. The film has a plethora of characters each unique and quirky in their own way. Josh peck delivers a great performance as an awkward drug dealing teen completely shrugging of his drake and Josh persona and showing us how talented he is with his pure likability and emotional anger, this is even better than his performance in the underrated "Mean Creek". What's even better is the chemistry he has with Ben Kingsley who delivers one of his best performances to date as a older man trying to live young and wild again, both characters are flawed and emotionally engaging.I also liked the anti-romance between Peck and Kingsely's daughter it was real and original. This film is both funny, touching and entertaining, its subtly dark and occasionally uplifting. Its a fresh take on the coming of age tale and deals with Growing up no matter how old you are. WATCH IT

Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) is a drug dealer who exchanges marijuana with his therapist (Ben Kingsley) for sessions. Life is simple but good, until two conflicts emerge: the family home may be foreclosed on, and Luke is falling for the therapist's step-daughter. Are you ready for some young adult drama? The film's title, and the outlook of the film in general, is explained by character Stephanie: "Know what your problem is, Shapiro? It's that you just have this really shitty way of looking at things, ya know? I don't have that problem. I just look at the dopeness. But you, it's like you just look at the wackness, ya know?" But for me, the film didn't leave much room for anything to be seen besides the wackness. I liked Mary-Kate Olsen, essentially playing herself. Kingsley was an enjoyable character. And having gone through heartbreak, I could identify to a point with Luke. But overall, it didn't really hit home for me the way it apparently did for the Sundance crowd.Or the critics, as it turns out. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3 out of 4 stars and a positive review escaped the fingertips of Peter Travers, collecting 2.5 out of 4 stars. Ben Kingsley's performance earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor. All three of these seem misplaced -- this is not a three star movie, and if anyone deserves blame, it is not Kingsley.Feel free to watch this. You may like it more than I did. I would give it a second chance, because I want to believe there is more going on than what I saw. But then, when your film is called "The Wackness", maybe I shouldn't be expecting so much.