Review of The Wackness (2008) by Al I — 26 Jun 2009

Ben Kingsley is self-medicating psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Squires in this quirky, drug-fueled exploration of friendship set in 1994. When Dr. Squires crosses paths with drug-dealing high school student Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck), an unlikely friendship develops and soon Luke is trading pot for therapy.

Dr. Squires' life is even more screwed up than Luke's it seems. He consumes more illicit drugs--both prescription and street--than Luke and his wife (Famke Janssen), has fallen out of love with him. His stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), is kind enough, but regards him as more of a screwed-up, drug-taking peer than a parental figure and he doesn't seem to have many friends his own age.

The friendship between Luke and Squires quickly progresses as Luke attends therapy. The two are soul mates--of a sort. Luke has a pretty dysfunctional family himself; his relationship with his father is chilly at best, and their family is about to be evicted from their home. In addition to their mutual family issues, Luke and Squires are also both depressed.

The two become inseparable, constantly hanging out, going to bars, jaunting about New York and even being arrested together. At one point, to help Luke earn money for college, Squires even helps him deal drugs. Luke meets Squires' family and eventually becomes romantically involved with Stephanie (who bails them out of jail), complicating his relationship with Squires. Squires' wife files for divorce and Stephanie leaves Luke broken-hearted. And though their friendship is strained over Luke?s relationship with Stephanie, Squires and Luke quickly reconcile through their shared pain. In one of the movie?s final scenes, the pair get drunk and stoned together and then sit on the beach, looking at the ocean and contemplating the meaning of it all. Squires decides that life isn?t worth living and in a very funny moment, walks into the ocean to commit suicide. Luke goes in after him and the results are quite amusing.

The Wackness is an entertaining little movie without much real point. As a coming-of-age comedy/drama it falls somewhat flat. The interest here lies in the friendship between Dr. Squires and Luke. This unusual friendship between a drug-dealing high school student and a 60s-something psychiatrist is the movie?s heart; it?s a meditation on what draws people together and what constitutes friendship and chemistry. The relationship between Stephanie and Luke, while interesting, seemed sometimes realistic, sometimes contrived, while the interplay between Stephanie and Squires was also very entertaining, but sparse. And although Ben Kingsley is very good, I frequently had to remind myself this character was a psychiatrist?no fault of Kingsley?s performance I think, but more a matter of the writing. It was at times hard to believe that Squires was a licensed psychiatrist. Overall, The Wackness is an amusing little film that?s fairly forgettable. It won?t blow you away but neither will it bore you to tears.