Fueled by not much more than online fanboy joy over a film they mildly connect with, The Wackness is impressive only as a piece of teenage “where do I fit in the world?” questioning, but outside of that it isn’t all that interesting. This film just tends to sit there and go through the motions as each and every turn in the plot is foreshadowed prior to anything ever taking place. None of it is a mystery as you follow the slovenly open-mouthed protagonist on his daily jaunts selling weed while the world he inhabits is crumbling all around him.
Josh Peck isn’t a newcomer to films although it may seem that way considering he has never broken out and astounded audiences. Starring as Luke Shapiro, he has just graduated from high school and is looking for his place in the world as he debates over whether he is the most popular of the unpopular or the least popular of the popular. I guess it comes down to how many of his “customers” remember him more for who he is rather than the drugs he sold them. Luke’s home is in shambles as his parents fight on a daily basis, which leads him to creating his strongest friendship with a head shrink that gives him time on the couch in exchange for almost daily marijuana refills.
Playing the shrink is Ben Kingsley, whose performance here is probably the most interesting thing about the film as it shows there is a side to his acting that many of us may not have thought was in him. He is primarily known as a more prestigious actor, considering his first real splash on the scene was back in 1982 as Gandhi and his more Hollywood fare such as Subject Zero and Lucky Number Slevin never found a mainstream groove. I would compare Kingsley’s performance in The Wackness to that of Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. What Good Will Hunting did for Williams, The Wackness could potentially do for Kingsley. Actually, at times, it felt like Kingsley was channeling Williams’s Hunting performance as the two characters seem remarkably comparable in their mannerisms even though the lives they lead are drastically different.
At the helm is Jonathan Levine, directing from his own script he shows some talent and imagination if not for the most part good taste in early ’90s hip-hop. For those of us that grew up as rap became increasing popular this film is going to bring back a lot of memories. I immediately went home and popped in Biggie’s “Ready to Die” and the film almost had me thinking I should give A Tribe Called Quest a second chance even though I was never able to fall in love with the group when they first hit the scene.
The Wackness is not a perfect film, as I said in the beginning, but it is a fresh attempt at a story with unique pieces making up a rather derivative storyline. We’ve all seen the stories of the kid that isn’t accepted and is depressed and begins to learn to deal and do something about it. The Wackness is no different, but its performances from the likes of Kingsley, Peck to some extent and Olivia Thirlby for what it’s worth, help in making the film a little bit better than average.
One thing is for certain, the decision to continually delay the release of Levine’s 2006 thriller All the Boys Love Mandy Lane must have been due to the distributer’s hopes that The Wackness would generate some kind of buzz around the helmer in order to be able to use his name in the promotion. They may try, but I don’t see this film doing much more than modest box-office for a film of its ilk and not gaining any traction in the way that previous indie hits such as Juno and Little Miss Sunshine did, although it seems like that is what they are shooting for.
C+
