This coming of age story mixes great characters, direction, writing, and music to be one of the nicest surprises of the year (08).
Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) has just graduated high school and while he isn’t the most popular kid around, he isn’t a complete loser either. What he is though, is a pot dealer, dealing out of a frozen ice vendor cart, he inconspicuously moves around NYC everyday selling to various clients at the buzz of his beeper. One of these clients happens to be a shrink, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley), and in trade for weed Squires gives counseling to Luke who really isn’t sure how to handle the situation. He doesn’t really think he needs to talk, but over time, he finds the conversations to help him out.
Squires, outside using Shapiro for weed, also begins to try and form a friendship with the kid. Going through a bit of an identity crisis and a failing marriage, Squires latches on to Luke and the two begin to hang out outside of the shrink office and hit the streets. Luke would like to be hanging out with Shapiro’s step daughter though, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), but she is a “popular” girl and Luke doesn’t really know how to approach her outside of a dealer relationship; the two do slowly break through as the summer grinds along. The film unrolls over the course of the summer and people will connect and fall far apart as the month’s role by, and the film keeps you interested in these character’s journeys from beginning to end.
Jonathan Levine’s craft is on full display here and he shoots the hell out of this picture. This being his biggest budget film yet, I can’t wait to see what he does once he breaks out to the main stream. A young director’s vision hasn’t impressed me like this since Rian Johnson’s Brick. Levine also does a great job with the script at creating some real struggles in his slightly larger than life characters. The movie scoots right along, with only a couple of slightly dragging scenes and one “what the fuck moment” on the beach towards the end that heavily involves drugs. The film has humor, sweetness, and a real look at relationships, and I can’t wait to see Levine’s next work. And a final note, the music in this film is awesome and works perfectly with the picture and the setting it takes place, 1994 New York, the soundtrack is a must get for fans of the era.
The acting in the film is also top notch with great work from those you expect and a couple of stand up performances that surprise you. Method Man deserves mention for his funny and brief appearance as Luke’s supplier. Mary Kate Olsen also pops up a couple times as a pot smoking hippie and proves she actually can act if she wants too. Famke Janssen is the weakest link in the film, though her character doesn’t have a lot to do, so that really isn’t her fault I guess. Ben Kingsley is fantastically weird and hilarious as Dr. Squires, playing everything great whether he is drunk, high, caring, or tender, he does it all superbly. His eyes are just wild as well the whole time and you never know what he is going to do next. Josh Peck is also solid as the awkward and lonely pot dealer that is obviously in over his head. He throws himself into embarrassing situations and executes being crushed and humiliated to great effect. He is in almost every scene of the film and he does a good job at being the leading man. Lastly is Olivia Thirlby who is one of the cutest/sexist young actresses working today and she does not disappoint here again. Her characters range is wide with he being sweet, dirty, and intimidating all at once but you still would try and convince your self she is a safe bet even though she has been know to snort crack, get high, and had sex like a hundred times. Thirlby with each picture proves she is a future star and once she breaks out of being an indie darling, she could be heading for big things.
In the end, The Wackness is a great coming of age movie that feels fresh and original in a well tread genre. The movie is equal parts crazy, funny, sweet, and heartbreakingly sad all set to one of the most fitting soundtracks to a film in a while. Jonathan Levine is starting to stand out as a potential next great writer/director and after this he has me intrigued to see what he comes up with next. So go out and find the Wackness on DVD/Blu-Ray as you will not be disappointed, especially if you are a child or grew up in the 90’s there is plenty to fall for in this picture.
A-