The Wackness

The Wackness



One of the hardest movie genres to review – For me anyway – is the rights of passage movie. My very first attempt at a review was for Dazed and Confused, which you can tell by its absence, didn't go too well. The single most reason being that nothing really happens plot-wise the whole way through. Rights of passage or Rites de passage films are almost always subtle affairs, shining a light on a character's transgression from teenager into adult.

The Wackness is no different. It tells the story of a lonely teenager called Luke (Josh Peck), who prides himself on his quirkiness and uniqueness. He doesn't gel with the crowd, preferring to listen to hip-hop on his outdated cassette player. The only contact he makes with them is when he is supplying them with drugs for their party, before returning to the periphery where he likes it. Obviously, such a life philosophy comes at a price. He's not really living at all.

His psychiatrist/ drug customer Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) advises him to start taking part, to make new friends, to go out and have his heart broken by the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, the girl of Luke's dreams is Squires step-daughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), so his advise comes back to haunt him when Luke asks her out.

Stephanie accompanies Luke on his drug run as he shows her his cunning tricks of concealing the deals, by pretending to be a ice-cream vendor. He tries to make as much money as possible because his irresponsible father is on the verge of bankruptcy and losing their home.
To avoid going home, he starts to spend more time with Squires, who is himself struggling with issues as he slowly realises his wife doesn't love him any more.

Luke falls head over heels in love with Stephanie and tells her so, only to realise she's had her fun and moved on. Squires and Luke both sink into depression – Squires attempting suicide to escape the pain - , but they each help the other out of it and become friends.

Luke matures from being someone inexperienced who needs guidance, to someone who can save his new friend from committing suicide. After surrendering himself to living, he becomes a man.

With great performances from the two leads it's easy to forget the supporting cast. Mary Kate Olsen is surprisingly great as the new-age hippy who buys her drugs from Luke and is easily seduced by Squires. Method Man appears as Luke's friendly Cannabis supplier. But it's Ben Kingsley's man-child that eats up the screen with his immaturity barely concealing his world weary pain.

It's hard to put into words how this film affects you, because it's all about feelings. If you don't like these sort of films then it'll simply be boring, but I've always liked films about growing up. Maybe because, I never did.

Verdict 10/ 10
An excellent rites-de-passage with great characters.