The Wackness
DVD Released (Y/M/D): 2009-01-06Genre: Comedy
Sub-genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Levine
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen, Method Man, Jane Adams, Aaron Yoo, Talia Balsam, David Wohl, Bob Dishy, Joanna Merlin
MPAA Rating: R
Synopsis: It's the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana. The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, is only beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against "crimes" like noisy portable radio, graffiti and public drunkenness.
Two people, however, are missing out on the excitement: Luke (Josh Peck) is a socially uncomfortable teenage pot dealer with no friends, issues with his parents, and a colossal lack of confidence with girls. He trades weed for sessions with his therapist, Dr. Squires (Sir Ben Kingsley), whose much-younger wife (Famke Janssen) is slipping away from him. Squires, a drug-addled shrink with a hairline retreating to the back of his neck and a state of mind slouching back to adolescence, is an unlikely role model - but the two of them forge a friendship based on a mutual need: getting laid.
The intergenerational duo set off on a crawl that takes them all over New York, where they encounter several of Luke's "business associates", including a Phish-following dreadlocked pixie (Mary Kate Olsen), a New Wave, keyboard-playing one-hit-wonder (Jane Adams), and Luke's supplier (Method Man).
Luke has long had an aching crush on Dr. Squires' way-out-of-his league stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby from Juno), and is stunned at his good luck when she returns his affections. Luke's innocent first love experience with Stephanie becomes a life lesson that sets him on the pathway towards adulthood. And when Squires breaks down, it is up to the younger man to throw the older one a lifeline.
Propelled by an exuberant hip hop score, The Wackness captures the spell of 1994--a time of pagers, not cell phones; a time when Tupac and Biggie were alive but Kurt Cobain had just died. Funny and moving, The Wackness is an offbeat tale of two lost souls stumbling towards maturity. Source: Sony Pictures Classics
Two people, however, are missing out on the excitement: Luke (Josh Peck) is a socially uncomfortable teenage pot dealer with no friends, issues with his parents, and a colossal lack of confidence with girls. He trades weed for sessions with his therapist, Dr. Squires (Sir Ben Kingsley), whose much-younger wife (Famke Janssen) is slipping away from him. Squires, a drug-addled shrink with a hairline retreating to the back of his neck and a state of mind slouching back to adolescence, is an unlikely role model - but the two of them forge a friendship based on a mutual need: getting laid.
The intergenerational duo set off on a crawl that takes them all over New York, where they encounter several of Luke's "business associates", including a Phish-following dreadlocked pixie (Mary Kate Olsen), a New Wave, keyboard-playing one-hit-wonder (Jane Adams), and Luke's supplier (Method Man).
Luke has long had an aching crush on Dr. Squires' way-out-of-his league stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby from Juno), and is stunned at his good luck when she returns his affections. Luke's innocent first love experience with Stephanie becomes a life lesson that sets him on the pathway towards adulthood. And when Squires breaks down, it is up to the younger man to throw the older one a lifeline.
Propelled by an exuberant hip hop score, The Wackness captures the spell of 1994--a time of pagers, not cell phones; a time when Tupac and Biggie were alive but Kurt Cobain had just died. Funny and moving, The Wackness is an offbeat tale of two lost souls stumbling towards maturity. Source: Sony Pictures Classics
