The Wackness

Screenwriter/director Jonathan Levine makes a remarkable sophomore film with a deceptively simple story of urban romance set in Manhattan's final pot-friendly days of the mid-‘90s before Rudolph Giuliani’s Disneyfication took its stranglehold on the city. Newcomer Josh Peck plays high-school senior Luke Shapiro, a charismatic pot dealer with the hots for his therapist’s step-daughter Stephanie (played by Olivia Thirlby). Ben Kingsley is Luke’s developmentally-challenged therapist Dr. Squires who trades sessions for pot, and is only too happy to advise the young man on how to extract the most joy from his fiery youth. Hip Hop music of the era from such artists as Notorious B.I.G and R. Kelly feature prominently in underscoring a last gasp of freedom in America. At once sophisticated and naïve, "The Wackness" is a nuanced period piece about achieving happiness at a time when the rug was being pulled out from under urban society. Ben Kingsley’s performance is nothing short of mesmerizing, and supports his resurgence as a renaissance actor along with his other impressive effort in "Elegy."

Rated R, 95 mins. (B+)