The Wackness

We've spoken at great length on this site about the potential pratfalls involved in making a typical indie movie and there's none so typical as the low-budget coming of age movie with a quirky indie spirit. Sometimes it works to the point where the movie overcomes the inevitability of the teenagers in question being painfully irritating (see Juno for reference). Other times it doesn't.

The Wackness hits screens fresh from success at Sundance (of course) and sounds like a cross between Charlie Bartlett and Thumbsucker in its tale of a loner high-school graduate who takes to selling pot for a day-job whilst attending therapy with a stoner shrink who is his best customer and could be his best friend.

Where The Wackness succeeds in differentiating itself is in its unusual stylistic choices. It's set in the early 90's for almost no discernible reason (the protagonist is a white-boy who listens to hip-hop instead of grunge, which may set him apart in the 90's but surely a similar distinction could have been made today). The colour grade is extreme and stylised with sickly greens and sepia browns making it look almost like a low-budget thriller or prison drama rather than the light hearted dramedy that it is. It could be jarring but what it does is takes us away from expectation and formula and anything that makes us feel like we've seen this sort of thing before.

The two central performances are of the highest order. Ben Kingsley will get all the plaudits for his entertainingly unhinged, eccentric shrink but whilst his performance is undeniably enjoyable and scenery-chewing, it still falls into the category of predictably quirky. The real kudos should go to Josh Peck who impressed so much a few years ago in Mean Creek and who now offers us a subtle, bravely nuanced performance which has the courage to remain stilted and isn't preening for attention or showing off. The kid is somewhat numb to the world, insulating himself at all times and accordingly that's exactly how Peck plays him.

Unfortunately, the movie is meandering and quite directionless in its story-telling. There seems to be little indication of what anybody wants to do or achieve until right near the end. Consequently, it flags in places and whilst it isn't attempting to be a comedy, it still isn't as funny as it thinks it is. It does finally come together to pack an emotional punch and just about manages to amount to the sum of its modest parts and it deserves extra credit for treating familiar material with a fresh eye. Now that Josh Peck has lost the weight of his younger years, which could have pigeon-holed him, Hollywood should come knocking...if there's any justice (Editors note: there isn't).
3/5