A FILM REVIEW
THE WACKNESS
a film review by Malik Isasis






















The 90s are the new 80s. Now that pop culture has scavenged the bones of the 70s and 80s, the trendsetters have now begun mining the not-so-distant decade of the 90s. I see young hipsters walking about with 1994 graphic tee shirts on as if it were a long forgotten era. I think it reveals a lot about American culture, which is to say, we have absolutely no sense of history.

This mysterious 1994 is the year in which The Wackness world is set. Director/writer Jonathan Levine’s title The Wackness could have been a big ol’ softball for critics to turn into a snide remark like “The Wackness lived up to its title” but Levine is much too talented of a writer/director to have let that happened.

Ben Kingsley who appears to be in the next 50 movies coming out this summer, plays Dr. Squires, a psychiatrist who is bartering his services for a dime bag (per session). The client with whom he is bartering with is a freshly minted high school graduate name Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck), a lonely slacker. Luke has a huge crush on Dr. Squires’ step-daughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby) and at a graduation party Luke wasn’t invited to, (he's just stopping by to sell some weed) he happens upon Stephanie in the bathroom.

“Whad’ya up to this summer?” She asks.
“Chillin’, making money, why? You wanna go study?” He jokes.
“Yah. Sure.” She says, catching him off guard.

And thus begins young Luke’s hero’s journey into heartbreak, self-discovery, and disillusionment in the summer of 1994, a summer that he will probably never forget. Seriously.

Levine is heavy-handed with the production design, constantly reminding us in case we forgot that by gone era of the 90s. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani’s name was used as a blunt instrument. He was mentioned no less than four times throughout the film to remind us of his wackness (right on, brother). Then there’s the reference to Kurt Cobain, and Notorious B.I.G.

There is some serious self-medication going on in this film; characters are blowing trees, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and alcohol, and dropping acid and when they are not blowing trees, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer or alcohol, or dropping acid, they are abusing prescription medications. If Levine would’ve examined his characters a little more closely, this would not have been a comedy. There is plenty of emotional dysfunction with characters swinging like monkeys from one vice to another just to get away from dealing with their troubled lives. Not only does Dr. Squires smoke pot with his step-daughter, it seems as if he is sexually attracted to her.

All the adults in the film, including Dr. Squires seem under developed compared to Luke and Stephanie. The beautiful Famke Janssen was wasted. Her character Mrs. Squires is miserable and has found herself in a cold-comfort situation, but we never really care because she was under written. There is nothing more tragic in film than watching a character you spend a lot of time with that you have no feelings for.

Dr. Squires and Luke become more than therapist and client—I suppose they had crossed that line on the onset of thier relationship. At times Dr. Squires is a mentor, but mostly he is Luke’s emotional peer. Because they both have no friends, they become each other’s best friend and confidant. This relationship works even though it is completely dysfunctional and unethical.

Mary-Kate Olsen passes through the film as an acid-dropper, who fucks Dr. Squires in a telephone booth. I’m guessing that Mary-Kate had many more scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. Her acting was god-awful. Shame on Levine for this performance. Method Man, from Wu-Tang Clan made a cameo as a Jamaican drug dealer. Even though Method Man pulled off a flawless Jamaican accent, it got in the way at times. Not sure why. And during one of his scenes, Levine had the nerve to play a Wu-Tang Clan track in the background, as Method Man delivered his lines. It took me out of the scene.

Speaking of soundtrack, the theme song by Biz Markie, “Just A Friend” is from the 80s, not 90s, go figure.

There is some really sharp writing in this film with the most memorable line coming from Stephanie, as she explained the difference between she and the brooding Luke regarding their outlook on life.

“I look at the dopeness. You look at the wackness.” Olivia Thirlby delivered that line like a weedhead who only becomes philosophical when baked. It was dead on, and deliciously funny.

Jonathan Levine like all talented filmmakers often over-indulges. There were many moments in the film where he got in his own way, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Wackness, it was well written and ably directed. Luke's and Stephanie’s love story played out, just as it should have with no fake obstacles to overcome, just like life. In spite of himself, Levine has made a really good film. It appears that I have two choices here: to look at this with Wackness or Dopeness.

I choose Dopeness. This film gets a B.

You didn’t think I would get through this review without a pun, did you?


GRADE: B

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