The Wackness Review

If Ben Kingsley were a Jedi he would have more power than Yoda. Yeah, you heard me. More understanding of the force he would have. Wackness is a decent little indie film set in the summer of 1994 in New York. It’s about a high school grad that sells weed and doesn’t have much direction in his life. No real friends to speak of, except for his therapist/pot client, Ben Kingsley. Sir Ben gives him advice like, “fuck as many women as you can” while loading his bong. The young dealer has no girlfriend but likes Kingsley’s stepdaughter. She is a popular kid who likes to party. The relationship between the two kids is an OK look at Mid 90’s big city hook-ups. Sometimes it can have a slight whiff of “After School Special”, but for the most part not bad. Also a nostalgic look at the pre-Giuliani New York. Everybody caught off guard by Giuliani’s take-control tactics on a city that, in the 70’s and 80’s, was up for grabs. I’m sure the beastie boy type rolls will keep lead actor Josh Peck working as America is always wanting a Jewish rapper type street kid. God knows I do. Contrived wanna-be hipster lingo will always have a place in every generation. Femke Janssen plays a great 40 something chain smoker that has been numbed to life by the weight of her failed dreams. Failed dreams, the rock solid foundation of any bad relationship. I can watch Sir Ben in anything. He always makes it interesting and believable. He is responsible for all the funniest moments in this film. Like trying to have sex with one of the Olsen twins. God bless you Ben. You make me want to be a better man. Crazy hair, smoking weed and wanting to fuck everything that walks. A great spin on the mid-life crisis guy whose wife hates him. I hope I’m making out with 20 year olds in phone booths when I’m going through a divorce in my 50’s. The future is so bright I gotta wear shades. See this film and listen to the rap music from the genre’s golden age. De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, sounds like the genius poetry written by a childhood friend before he sold his “living off the grid” and “music for a better world” for gold chains and a Hummer. Now gangsta’ is a marketing tool and songs of peace are gone like a Time Square porn shop. Support Indie film, go see The Wackness. PALM STRIKE! Graham Elwood