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Review: THE WACKNESS / Jonathan Levine (2008)

July 13th, 2008 by Scott Marks

The Wackness (2008)
Written & Directed by Jonathan Levine
Starring: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen, Jane Adams, Method Man and one of The Olsen Twins
Running Time: 95 min.
Aspect Ratio:

Rating: ★★★★½

Occasionally The Wackness will take a misstep and whack away at plausibility. Not for one nanosecond did I believe a street smart New York kid would peddle pot out of an ice cream wagon, particularly when he leaves his keef-filled cart chained to a tree while making house calls. Why not leave a “Help Yourself” sign propped on the handlebars?

Nor does The Wackness excel at waxing nostalgia. The film tries too hard to jam its precious period recreation down viewers’ throats. Set in 1994, the film’s titles and chapter breaks are spray painted across the screen, our hero Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) speaks fluent “wigger” and bus ads scream Forrest Gump.

There is so much Rudy Giuliani bashing going on you’d swear that during the creative process screenwriter/director Jonathan Levine was certain that his film would open to find the former Mayor of New York positioned as the Republican party’s presidential front runner. And for such a long, hot summer there is very little evidence of pit-stains and sweaty brows.

I can’t say in all good conscience that I am completely sold on the look of the film either. The Panavision frames are desaturated and mud-colored. It’s not exactly an endless flow of suffocating close-ups, but there are enough that it would have been better had Levine showed even more restraint by pulling the camera back.

In spite of everything I find myself thoroughly enchanted by these scummy characters and the honest, perceptive manner in which Levine writes dialogue. There’s none of the phony fast-talking, set-up/punch line/set-up patter that thrilled millions in Juno. In The Wackness, characters laugh, break, swoon and self-medicate just like normal people.

In the 80s, John Hughes made a fortune depicting precocious charmers that were wise beyond their years and infinitely smarter than their parents. When Luke learns that his parents are about to be evicted, he does more than just slap his palms against his cheeks. He’s already been slipping his mother money from his drug revenue and decides to increase his sales in order to bail his family out.

Luke’s best customer is also his shrink, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley), who gladly waves his fee in exchange for Glad sandwich bags filled with weed. His is the only office in New York that comes equipped with a bong. In one session, Luke talks about snorting Ritalin in the bathroom and hints at suicide. In a vain attempt to be both topical and hip, Squires questions whether or not Luke’s darkness may have been influence by Kurt Cobain. Luke confides that he’s a virgin that can’t get laid and the doc plies him with all the romantic tricks of the trade never once dreaming that Luke would use them on his stepdaughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby).

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