The Wackness

Review by Anthony Morris

It's the summer of 1995 and New York dope dealer Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) has a lot on his mind. 

So when regular client Dr Squires (Ben Kingsley) turns out to be a shrink, they strike a deal : free pot for regular chat sessions! 

The bad news is, his new shrink has more than enough problems of his own and, as a free spirit chained down by work and family, he needs a good talking to as much as Luke does. 

The good news is, Squires also has a very hot step-daughter (Olivia Thirlby), who may be able to help Luke out with his number one problem (well, apart from his crumbling family and his dad's increasing inability to pay the bills) : he needs to get laid. 

And so the stage is set for yet another coming-of-age tale complete with erratic mentor figure and more experienced girlfriend. 

Fortunately, this has enough authentic - or at least original - details running through it to keep The Wackness feeling like something more real than the usual take on this story : From Luke dealing pot out of a battered ice cream cart, to the painfully realistic way his love life pans out. 

Peck and Kingsley both give great performances, Peck keeping his character's constant whining and complaining from ever turning painful while Kingsley makes Shapiro's dissatisfaction with his life (and how its turned out) feel real and not just a plot device to keep his character nice 'n' quirky. 

But no matter how many hip-hop references and examples of badly dated slang (putting "mad" in front of everything - as in "you got mad skills" - gets very stale, very fast) are squeezed in, this is still just another "and that was the summer when everything changed" tale. 

It's just better told than most.

3.5 out of 5

The Wackness
Australian release: 13th November, 2008
Official Site: The Wackness
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, Method Man, Mary-Kate Olsen
Director: Jonathan Levine