The Notorious NYC

The Wackness

Ah, the coming of age movie where the viewer gets to relive the past in all it’s romanticized glory. The Wackness delivers on this front, but is better than most such movies for a few reasons. The movie is set in Manhattan in 1994 and as such, is a period movie. The writer’s meticulous attention to detail regarding time and place gives the movie a texture which draws the viewer in. Then there are the performances. Josh Peck who plays the lead is quite good. Also da flicks gots da Sir Ben Kingsley.

In addition to Peck and Kingsley good work is done by Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivia Thirlby. All serve to confuse Peck’s character Luke Shapiro who is trying to grapple with life’s pain as he approaches his eighteenth birthday and college. Oh, and his extra curricular activity? He’s a full time marijuana salesperson in Manhattan. Kingsley is his shrink and client and Thirlby is his love interest, client and the step daughter of his shrink. Manhattan is also a character and as in a lot of Woody Allen films it plays a large part in the movie.

No one in this movie is particularly happy and most of the film deals with pain and how we deal with it. For most of the movie Shapiro seeks to avoid pain by avoiding others. He grows to examine whether this is a viable way of living. The DVD has a few extras including two episodes of a cable access show staring the character of Shapiro. These are pretty amusing.

The movie is pretty funny at times. It is well written and a solid rent.

You should rent this movie if

1. You enjoy smart coming of age dramas.
2. You enjoy period pieces set within the last two decades.
3. Ben Kingsley

You should buy this movie if

1. You were really into hip hop in the mid nineties.
2. Ben Kingsley humping Mary-Kate is something you would like to see more than once.
3. Thandie Newton*
4. You know someone approaching the end of high school who is a bit down in the dumps. This would make a fine graduation gift.

*Thandie Newton is not actually in this movie.

If you are interested in buying this DVD here is a link to Amazon where you can get it at a reasonable price: