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Review #636 of 365
Movie Review of The Wackness (2008) [R] 108 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.50
Where Viewed: Landmark Mayan, Denver, CO
When Seen: 20 April 2008
Time: 5:55 pm
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Directed by: Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane)
Written by: Jonathan Levine (Love Bytes)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Ben Kingsley (The Last Legion) • Famke Janssen (The Ten) • Josh Peck (Drillbit Taylor) • Olivia Thirlby (Juno) • Mary-Kate Olsen (Factory Girl ) • Method Man (Meet the Spartans) • Talia Balsam (All the King's Men) • David Wohl (Joe Gould's Secret )
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Click to see photos from the Premiere of The Wackness
Click to read the spoiler points for The Wackness
Words to live by…try to find the good in life instead of just looking at all 'the wackness'. 'Wackness' derived apparently from the expression "that's so wack" which might be short for "wacky". In any case, such is both the title and philosophy of Jonathan Levine's independent feature, The Wackness starring Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, and Olivia Thirlby or so the credits have them ordered. Actually, Josh Peck, most recently seen as the thug kid's best friend in Drillbit Taylor, is the real star and soul of the film, and boy is this 'kid' something. Forget Drillbit Taylor (sorry Owen), for not only was it not that great of a film, but it relegated one of the truly great actors in the film, at least based on what he does in The Wackness, to (pardon the expression but) a drill-bit part. With soulful eyes reflecting both an innocence yet fortitude, the young Mr. Peck bounds onto the screen and into this role of Luke Shapiro--recent HS grad and current 4:20 delivery boy using an Italian Ice cart as his mobile cover store front--like a St. Bernard puppy that's not quite realized his own strength. With a sneerful smile and baby dimples, his self-effacing character's got "adore me" written all over him despite his nefarious career choice of the moment. The first glimpse into what's going on in his life comes through a weekly meeting he enjoys as he supplies Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) with pot in exchange for mild psychiatric help, friendship, and wisdom. For parents, Josh has the terribly ineffectual, both in the way the character is written and played by David Wohl, Mr. Shapiro is the next best thing to a bumbling father figure. Meanwhile his mother (Talia Balsam) has issues with alcohol, Dr. Squire's wife, Kristen (Janssen) has grown boring and bored, and his step-daughter, Kristen (Olivai Thirlby) has the same flirt fetish as her gorgeous mother yet youth keeps her zest for exploration and fun intact.
It’s the summer of 1994 in New York City, and then Mayor Giulianni has just begun to kick his "Clean Up New York" laws in to effect. In the eyes of the Woodstock fans, he's the anti-Christ finally forcing them to reckon with their self-destructive choices of the past and present. The heat is on both literally and figuratively that summer after Josh's graduation. He's set to attend his 'safety' school in the fall, and has nothing but his summer 'job' and the conquest of his virginity to fill his days. Toward those ends, his summer 'job' gains urgency when he discovers his father's lost everything at work and they may have to relocate to the New Yorker's hell on earth, aka "Jersey", and as for the virginity, which he claims is not virginity per se, his attention turns toward Stephanie Squires who is equally otherwise unoccupied all summer with her boyfriend off on a trite Eurotrip.
Mr. Levine's version of the patently unoriginal coming of age story of a teenage boy would also fall into the patently unoriginal category were it not for the fact that he's charged this classic metamorphosis with serving as a metaphor for escaping all that's wrong with life in general. His thesis focuses on the progression of life from something deliriously, deliciously, devilishly daring into something which dominoes down a dreadful, dreary, diabolical, dead end. In youth, he premises we are truly free to be ourselves and, frankly, figure out who we are or are not but have fun with both, and then as we age into oblivion of pointlessness, we lose all sight of that which made life really worth living. Again, that, in and of itself, isn't that original. The original piece here comes in how he uses the relationship between Luke and Dr. Squires to unravel the mystique of each man's position on the continuum allowing and ebb and flow as they guide the other back on to a path of a more meaningful existence.
…Peck's performance…stands out and makes the film…
With a certain degree of smugness, cheesy graffiti painted month titles dividing the film into three acts, dialogue that rings more late 1990s if not early 2000s, and a tad too much conventionality, the strength of the final result of the film is lessened (lessoned?). Still, it is Peck's performance, however, that stands out and makes the film for he is both an interesting young actor to watch emerge from the shadows of both the profession and the character's "biggest loser in school" persona into a self-confident, street-smart, young man. With real flaws and real emotions, the performance takes hold and leaves you wanting not only to see him win, become his friend, and watch him go all the way, but believe that we really can find that thing within ourselves with ignites the passion of our soul even if the end result is not a grandiose icon and beacon of hope just a pretty regular dude. Meanwhile, after seeing this film, it's possible to see that maybe all one need in life is a little less 'wackness'.
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Cast Members
Ben Kingsley • Famke Janssen • Josh Peck
Olivia Thirlby • Mary-Kate Olsen • Method Man
Talia Balsam • David Wohl
Director
Jonathan Levine
Writer
Jonathan Levine
Review-lite
The Wackness (2008) [max of 150 words]
The Wackness is both title and philosophy of Jonathan Levine's feature, starring Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Josh Peck, and Olivia Thirlby. Peck represents the real star of the film with soulful eyes reflecting innocence yet fortitude, he bounds onto the screen as Luke Shapiro--recent HS grad and current 4:20 delivery boy using an Italian Ice cart as his mobile cover store front--like a St. Bernard puppy that's not quite realized his own strength. With a sneerful smile, his self-effacing character's got "adore me" written all over him despite his nefarious career choice of the moment. His life isn't all peaches battling every form of adult depression in nearly every grown-up he knows and seeking to conquer his virginity. The coming-of-age story possesses all of the trite elements of films before but deviates as Luke's friendship with Dr. Squire (Kingsley) serves as a metaphor for escaping "the wackness" of life.
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1 comment:
Wow, this movie sounds great! I love Josh Peck. I didn't realize he is the same kid from Drillbit Taylor, thanks for the tip! Cool site. I am going to visit EVERY day. I hope you will add a birthday tribute page for Josh Peck soon! Thanks!
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