Review of The Wackness

Sir Ben Kingsley Reigns Supreme

Flashback to the summer of 1994, New York City. Rap is hot, cassettes still exist, dealers are using pagers, and Rudy Giuliani has declared all out war on the dealers and homeless to try and clean up the streets. Enter Luke Shapiro, just graduating from high school, still a virgin, though not by choice, seeing a psychiatrist, and getting ready to go to his “safety school”. Just your average run of the mill teenager….NOT! Luke is trying to make sense of life, but is perfectly happy making money as a drug dealer while he awaits the big answers. He is quite successful at it too. In fact, Luke pays his psychiatrist with bags of marijuana, and supplies his stepdaughter as well. What ensues is a wonderful romp through Luke’s summer as he falls in love, builds his drug business, watches his family fall apart, and develops a bond with Dr. Squires, his psychiatrist; a.k.a. the wackness of it all. Jonathan Levine as writer and director has created an in your face masterpiece that will shock you as well as having you laughing throughout. At the tender age of 31, LeVine demonstrates a talent many older and more experienced directors have yet to develop. Part of the success of this movie is, I’m sure, his freshness and proximity to the setting and characters that he is bringing to life. The film has and maintains a reckless energy that revs up the audience just adding to the pleasure of watching it. There is not one ounce of fidget factor in this movie. Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby, turn in admirable performances as Luke Shapiro and Stephanie Squires. Peck’s portrayal of a lovesick teen is all too real, bringing back memories for the older crowd, and offering some comfort to the younger set that may be in the process of experiencing the same thing. Thirlby is also equally believable as the somewhat aloof, overly mature young woman who is the apple of Luke’s eye. Her character starts out as a superficial type, but by the end of the movie she has realized that life, at least in some areas, has real meaning. But perhaps the best performance is that of Sir Ben Kingsley who, as Dr. Squires, is incredible. His humor, sense of timing, ability to convey emotions without going overboard, takes this already delightful film up another notch. His performance alone makes this movie well worth the watching.

Posted on 01/21/08 by: silent one 03:55 PM