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The movie The Wackness (R) was a Sundance smash hit.  Written and directed by Jonathan Levine, this movie captures a hot summer in New York strait out of 1994.  It sets out to show the gritty side of New York from the view from a 18 year old who is trying to find his way in life.

Staring, Josh Peck, from Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, plays the main character Luke Shapiro.  An 18 year old who just graduated high school, oh yeah, he also is a drug dealer who’s still a virgin.  For him that is a major problem.

Benn Kingsley who simply is simply a legendary actor with too many awards to list.  He lends his talent by playing Luke’s psychologist, Dr. Jeffrey Squires, who is paid with weed.  He’s an aging man who is stuck in his own past.

Olivia Thirlby who most would know her from her performance in Juno, as Juno’s friend Leah.  She plays Luke’s love interest and Dr. Squires step-daughter.

Other actors of note are Famke Janssen who is the doctors wife, she also played Jean Grey in the X-Men series.  Also someone who would make you go WTF is Mary-Kate Olsen.  She plays a hippy who only role in the film is to be high.  Though she does a great job as a care free character.

The movies sound track fits perfectly for the backdrop of summer 94 in New York.  The movie has a great mix of hip-hop from that period as well as some older classic rock.  The music is used to fit the scene perfectly.   When Luke was having girl problems, having the song Just a Friend by Biz Markie was hilarious.  Though the soundtrack is not all HIp-Hop hits.  David Bowie sneaks into the film as well.  Overall the soundtrack obviously pulls heavily from the popular music of the time.

The story is not one of the films strong points.  The story of a teen who is a social outcast (yes yes who’s not heard that one) who tries to find a solution to his problem.  That basic structure is nothing new.  It’s the execution that really makes this movie shine.  With many independent films you typically find that you get a different kind of performance from actors than when they play in a more Hollywood setting.  The acting in the movie feels genuine.  All the actors has a certain level of polish to their performance yet they bring these very unique characters to life in a way that feels very new.  This style is very entertaining to watch and that is what should happen, you should enjoy watching  the actors interact on screen.

Overall this film is nothing but refreshing.  Everything from the acting to the camera work (good job Petra Korner) is anything but boring.  This is what indy films should be.

Rating: 5/5