'Wackness' doesn't live up to its hype

By Mina Hochberg | amNewYork Movie Critic

2:47 PM EDT, July 2, 2008

Josh Peck, born and raised in NYC, is the star of the film, "The Wackness", in which he plays a kid selling dope throughout New York City during his last summer (1994) before college. (Newsday/Ari Mintz)

"The Wackness" is set in Manhattan, 1994, and not a minute goes by where director/writer Jonathan Levine doesn't whack you over the head with reminders that it's Manhattan, 1994.

In the first 10 minutes you get references to Zima, Zelda, Pearl Jam and Gameboy, and the onslaught continues till the lights go up with mentions of mix tapes, Giuliani's iron grip, Jason Priestley, Giuliani's iron grip, the death of Kurt Cobain, Notorious B.I.G., Giuliani's iron grip. There's a time and place for such highly concentrated brews of '90s references (e.g. VH1 and lowbrow comedies), but in "The Wackness," Levine runs a bit amok with his nostalgic garnishing.

Josh Peck stars as a reclusive pot-dealer, Luke Shapiro, who spends his summer before college doing all the things he never did during high school -- letting loose, making friends, getting laid. On the friend front, he becomes chummy with his doped-up, depressed therapist, Dr. Squires ( Ben Kingsley), who accepts payment in the form of dime bags. On the girlfriend front, he starts hanging out with Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), Dr. Squires' daughter, a carefree beauty who never gave him a chance during high school.

Levine juxtaposes two lives -- one of a young man who's afraid to live the life ahead of him, the other of an older man who regrets the life he never got to lead. And with Giuliani cleaning up the city, both men are losing their chance to have any fun at all. The movie often feels just as facile as this perfunctory summary, though thanks to Kingsley's inspired performance as an immature boy trapped in an old man's body, the film is blessed with a great sense of playfulness (even if Kingsley does get a little borderline manic, à la Robin Williams).

At first, "The Wackness" may feel like something original. In the end, though, it's a pretty average coming-of-age story that tries to pass as innovative by donning quirky characters, graffitied chyrons and a hurly-burly of fun '90s references. Not to discredit Levine's attempt at thoughtfulness, but "The Wackness" doesn't quite live up to the hype that preceded it.

The Wackness Written and directed by Jonathan Levine. Starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen