Review of The Wackness (2008) by Drew S — 25 Jan 2009

Uneven but generally watchable, The Wackness is a rough little charmer buried amidst the bigger hits of 2008. Its greatest asset is in a fantastic performance by Ben Kingsley in a really repetitive, unenlightening role - I've never been a huge fan of his "take whatever role comes at me" approach to acting but he proves he can do a damn good job when he feels like it. Olivia Thirlby, further strengthening what should ideally be a breakout year for her, gives a sexy and assured turn as unchained firebrand Stephanie. Her work here is the exact opposite as her work in Snow Angels and she pulls both roles off seamlessly. I don't mean to discount Josh Peck's work but he's merely adequate; considering, however, that most of his visible training thus far has been in generic Nickolodeon swill, the performance is much better than it has a right to be. These actors are privileged to get economically-written, unforced, smart jokes to spit at each other. And if your heart beats for 90s hip hop, The Wackness will feel just right (I'm pretty ambivalent myself).

It's all a shame that the film, ultimately, feels rather pointless because of its confused and largely unrealistic view of love and relationships. It is fatally myopic in asking us to side with the naive, obsessive Luke and unironically maligning Stephanie for just wanting a little summer fun. With both the knowledge that the relationship had a time limit and previous observations about Stephanie's character, Luke should very well have been wiser. Sure, he may not know much about women, but everyone knows that playing with fire will get you burnt. After all this, however, we're asked to sympathize with his "broken heart" as if Stephanie was a vicious black widow, not just a bored girl. And how awful is that ending? Poor Josh Peck could have been the best actor in the world and he still would have flopped, mindlessly screaming every thematic element the movie has to offer to no real effect.

So all in all, The Wackness is just fun fluff that fails at reaching any sort of substance due to an incoherent message and repetitive moralizing. It's like a fun, clumsy, slightly obnoxious friend. Good in small doses but nothing special.