The Wackness

The year is 1994, the place Manhattan, where graduating high school senior Luke (Josh Peck, looking a lot grubbier than he did in Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh), deals with his loser status, lack of a girlfriend, and horrid home life by selling marijuana out of a sidewalk ice-cream cart. One of his clients is a gonzo psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley) whom he pays in weed in return for professional sessions in which the shrink seems more interested in recalling the ups and downs of his own life than in addressing his patient's problems…until Luke reveals that he has a crush on a classmate who happens to be the man's stepdaughter. Written and directed by Jonathan Levine, The Wackness covers one coming-of-age summer during which Luke's parents financially crash and burn, the lad develops an unlikely friendship with the shrink, and the doc's daughter introduces the teen to the joys of sex. Kingsley shines in a rambunctious, take-no-prisoners performance—clearly reveling in the libidinous, over-the-hill hippie shtick of his role—but while the rest of the film boasts a certain laidback charm, it never quite rises to the level of the best rite-of-passage movies. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by star Josh Peck and director Jonathan Levine, the 18-minute “Time in a Bottle” behind-the-scenes featurette, a “Luke Shapiro's Dope Show” character featurette (8 min.), a “Keeping it Real: A Day in the Life of Jonathan Levine” featurette (8 min.), five minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven film.] (F. Swietek)