The Wackness


The Wackness is a 2008 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Mary-Kate Olsen, Famke Janssen, and Olivia Thirlby. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

Plot

In the summer of 1994 in New York City, Luke Shapiro is trading marijuana in exchange for therapy from his psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffery Squires. Luke graduates from high school but while dealing at a party, he finds out that Justin and other people have gone away for the summer, except for him and his classmate, Stephanie, known commonly as "Steph", who happens to be the stepdaughter of Dr. Squires. When Luke returns home, he finds his parents arguing over money and their probable eviction from their Manhattan apartment.
Luke starts dealing more marijuana to make money for his family. After a session with Dr. Squires, he bumps into Stephanie and invites her to come with him dealing around the city. Steph has a great time and gives Luke her number so she will not be lonely in the city for the summer.
Luke phones Steph but ends up talking to Dr. Squires and they go out to a bar. Another client of Luke's shows up and while getting drunk and high, they get kicked out for underage drinking. Luke and Dr. Squires are walking from the bar and start tagging a wall but are apprehended by the police. Steph bails them out of jail and, against Dr. Squires' wishes, takes Luke out for the day. Luke and Steph end up kissing. When Luke gets home, he finds he has strong feelings for her.
Luke grabs a letter from his father and reads that his family is getting evicted. He tells his father to be a man and do something about it. Steph invites him to her family's house on Fire Island; Dr. Squires and his wife are going to try to fix their relationship on a second honeymoon. At the island, Steph finds out Luke is a virgin and offers to give him sex lessons. After taking a shower and having sex together, Luke tells Steph that he loves her. She reacts with astonishment and it's obvious that she's not looking for that kind of relationship with him. Justin later contacts Steph asking if she wants to hang out.
Luke asks Dr. Squires for help selling pot because he needs to make enough money for college. Luke introduces Dr. Squires to his client, Eleanor, and they hit it off. Luke's family gets evicted and is forced to stay with his grandparents in New Jersey. Luke visits Steph for companionship, but as she greets him at the door, Justin appears, to Luke's dismay, leaving with his heart broken.
Luke goes to Fire Island to seek counseling with Dr. Squires. Dr. Squires is on a bender because of his now inevitable divorce and invites Luke to join him. While high, Dr. Squires starts to walk into the ocean to kill himself. Luke goes in after him to save him. They both end up back on the beach, alive, more sober, and cracking jokes.
Luke later talks with Dr. Squires inside the Squires' home. Squires wishes him good luck and tells him goodbye. As Luke is leaving, Steph follows him to the elevator to talk to him. However, Luke says "Do me a favor Steph, don't say anything; I wanna remember this; I've never done it before." Stephanie replies "Never done what?" and Luke continues, "had my heart broken" and as he is on the verge of tears he goes into the elevator and Stephanie looks sad for a moment, before smiling and seeming to realize Luke will be fine. As Luke walks out of the complex, he puts in the mixtape Squires made for him and "All the Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople begins playing. Luke is amused by it.
In New Jersey, Luke tells his family he plans to become a psychiatrist. He says that he will be good at it because "everyone around me is so fucking crazy." Back in the city, Eleanor beeps Dr. Squires and asks him what he's doing tonight. He says "No plans." The film cuts to Luke, who is smoking a joint while waiting at a train stop. He flicks the joint at the camera and the movie cuts to black as the credits roll.

Cast

Jonathan Levine has said that the film is semi-autobiographical: "'I wish I could say that I sold pot and I had a shrink like Ben Kingsley, but no, it wasn't like that,' admits Jonathan Levine. 'It's the details and the backdrop, and a lot of the perspective of this kid and the way that he looks at the world,' explains Levine. 'The Stephanie character, I guess, is a composite of a few different ladies who broke up with me,' Levine says with a laugh. 'That happened.'"
Filming wrapped up on August 24, 2007. The Wackness was awarded the Audience Award for Dramatic Film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Reception

The film garnered positive reviews from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 70% rating based on 131 critic reviews, the site's consensus reading, "Sympathetic characters and a clever script help The Wackness overcome a familiar plot to make for a charming coming-of-age comedy." Ben Kingsley's performance, however, earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

Music

Levine wrote in The Dallas Morning News, "Beyond what worked tone-wise, a lot of the music speaks to what's going on in the movie. There's that 'Heaven & Hell' song by Raekwon when Josh is up on a water tower looking down, and it's asking, 'Is high school heaven or is it hell?' And 'Can I Kick It?' by A Tribe Called Quest plays when Kingsley's trying to kick drugs. So a lot of it just kind of worked thematically."
Levine targeted the most iconic acts of the era, with Notorious B.I.G. on the top of his list. Luke and Stephanie bond in Central Park over beer and the sounds of Total Featuring the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Can't You See". "The What," a song from that album featuring Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man, who also appears in the film as Luke's supplier, leads off the soundtrack. Levine says he considered expanding the film's soundtrack to include Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins, two of the year's biggest non-hip-hop acts, and that the original ending featured Nirvana's Lithium."
Levine wrote, "Ultimately, tough choices refined the film's reach, which isn't such a bad thing. But that doesn't mean it was easy passing that other music up."
The soundtrack from the Sundance submission edit of the movie differs from the final edit, with several tracks either being shifted, replaced, or cut out of some scenes possibly due to issues of licensing.

Soundtrack

  1. "The What?" -- The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Method Man
  2. "You Used To Love Me" -- Faith Evans
  3. "Flava in Ya Ear" -- Craig Mack
  4. "Summertime" -- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
  5. "Can't You See" -- Total feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
  6. "I Can't Wake Up" -- KRS-One
  7. "The World Is Yours" -- Nas
  8. "Can I Kick It?" -- A Tribe Called Quest
  9. "Heaven & Hell" -- Raekwon
  10. "Bump n' Grind" -- R. Kelly
  11. "Just a Friend" -- Biz Markie
  12. "Tearz" -- Wu-Tang Clan
  13. "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" -- The Pioneers
  14. "All The Young Dudes" -- Mott the Hoople

    Home media

The Wackness was released January 6, 2009 on DVD and Blu-ray.