The Wackness

The Wackness

Directed by Jonathan Levine (R)

A New York teen sells pot, smokes it, and ponders life and love post–high school.

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The Wackness isn’t all that wack, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. Set in the New York City of 1994, this tale of a recent high school grad who loves hip-hop, sells pot for pocket money, and trades it for therapy is in many ways a traditional coming-of-age story. But writer/director Jonathan Levine breathes life into a rather banal story line by blending “historical authenticity and low-key emotional sincerity.” Offbeat characters and a strong cast—including Ben Kingsley and newcomer Josh Peck—make his directorial debut successful. Levine’s inexperience shows through only in certain details, such as his “self-conscious use of mid-’90s hip-hop slang.” The film as a whole “feels a little half-baked,” said Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly. It “skates over the particulars” of the weed business and tries too hard to evoke nostalgia for an era that’s hardly a decade in the past. But Levine has discovered a potential star in Peck, said Nick Pinkerton in The Village Voice. He’s a “big, pear-shaped” Jewish kid whose character’s so insecure that he “keeps his shirt on when swimming and screwing.” It’s Peck’s performance that keeps The Wackness “real.”