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Movies / Upcoming / The Wackness
The Wackness

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The Wackness (2008)

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Reviews Counted:124

Fresh:85

Rotten:39

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Sympathetic characters and a clever script help The Wackness overcome a familiar plot to make for a charming coming-of-age comedy.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive drug use, language and some sexuality.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jul 3, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $2,022,846

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... 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. --© Sony Pictures Classics
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Starring: Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen, Method Man, Jane Adams

Director: Jonathan Levine

Director: Jonathan Levine
Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for The Wackness

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It's an utterly routine picture, but its low-key mood and acting disarm

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

With a game cast and cool songs from the era... heartfelt moments battling clumsy ones, The Wackness isn't quite dope but, like a good mixtape it is full of highlights.

Full Review Source: GreenCine | comment Comment
07/30/09
Craig Phillips
Craig Phillips
GreenCine

Dumb title? Certainly. Perfectly proportioned? Nope. True-to-life? Certainly not. An enjoyably quirky indie comedy? You bet.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/19/09
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Parallel yet intertwined older and younger generations, and a real girl, set this above the usual young dudes genre, changing from comic to romantic to poignant and back.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
12/03/08
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

If nothing else, it's probably worth seeing for the kissing scene between Kingsley and Mary-Kate Olsen.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment 2 Comments
11/19/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
The Australian

It's an old theme. Levine tackles it with gusto and verve, and if ultimately he overdoes it with a hi-end quirky style, I think there's enough authenticity here to see the film through.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
11/14/08
Jason Di Rosso
Jason Di Rosso
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

This is a gently humorous and beautifully moving film.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
11/14/08
Annette Basile
Annette Basile
FILMINK (Australia)

Levine's extended use of sepia-toned cinematography adds to the film's charmless look, matching the bleakness of the lives of most of the people he presents to the audience.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment Comment
11/14/08
Des Partridge
Des Partridge
Daily Telegraph (Australia)

It muddles through on its period infatuation and on Kingsley’s dope-loving turn as a doctor constantly on the verge of another hit.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
11/14/08
Jim Schembri
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)

The performances are all very fine, but the standout is Ben Kingsley’s Squires. It's so unexpected.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
11/14/08
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)

Better than most "coming of age" stories due to some fine comic and dramatic performances by a talented cast.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
11/13/08
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

A thoroughly engaging comic drama with absurdist elements %u2013 or is that just real life

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
11/08/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

THE WACKNESS is one of those small little movies that come under the radar and sneak up on you.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
09/16/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Over-hyped.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment 2 Comments
09/08/08
Heather Huntington
Heather Huntington
ReelzChannel.com

The Wackness, while no masterpiece, is the kind of film that doesn’t come to much but is watchable as it saunters along with a provoking sense of meaningful pessimism. The performances are really the thing — Levine hasn’t managed anything better.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
08/29/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The film's forlorn charm is a little reminiscent of Cameron Crowe's adolescent memoir Almost Famous. It's a tiny bit soppy, too, but you can forgive that in a teenager.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
08/29/08
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

The Wackness is a teen drama, set in 1994 against a backdrop of laidback hip-hop and a roasting hot New York which tries just a bit too hard to be cool. But it is definitely not wack (bad).

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
08/29/08
Sun Online

Kingsley is likewise on form and hits home with some terrifically world-weary one liners, while director Jon Levine brings a refreshing inventiveness to the film.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
08/29/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

It's a reasonably promising debut, though, and Sir Ben looks as though he had a lot of fun, not least when he's deflowering Mary-Kate Olsen, surprisingly funny as the planet's last remaining hippy.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
08/29/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

It’s not quite da bomb, but this nostalgic throwback to the recent past still has enough phat acting (especially from Sir Ben) and slammin’ scenes to seem both fly and fresh. Worth catching? Damn skippy.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
08/29/08
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Total Film
 
 
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Latest News for The Wackness

March 31, 2009: Fox Atomic Hires Jonathan Levine for The Sitter Opens in new window
Jonathan Levine will follow up "The Wackness" with a Fox Atomic project titled "The Sitter," about a college student who "gets talked into babysitting the eccentric kids next... More...

January 21, 2009: Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...

January 08, 2009: Surviving Guiliani Time wacked out on weirdness in an alternate universe, and with a chaser of cup runneth over raging hormones, in possibly the most explosively imaginative, edgy, brash and strangely poetic coming-of-age tale this year. Opens in new window
More...

January 03, 2009: Surviving Guiliani Time wacked out on weirdness in an alternate universe, and with a chaser of cup runneth over raging hormones, in possibly the most explosively imaginative, edgy, brash and strangely poetic coming-of-age tale this year. Opens in new window
More...

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