Hey folks, Harry here... I'm getting ready for another wonderful day at Fangoria's WEEKEND OF HORRORS here in Austin - and we officially have the first film of Sundance that I'm wishing I was watching right now. THE WACKNESS has endorsements from Rav and Quint - and I'm curious to see if we get written coverage from the Kraken as well - but it seems this is the early hot ticket of the fest. For you other attendees of SUNDANCE - let's hear what you're seeing - Drop those reviews to Harry@AintItCool.Com and all the editors here at AICN will see them - and work to get them up! Now - here's Rav with THE WACKNESS (love that title)...

I’ve watched five films so far here at Sundance, one was fucking fantastic (The Wackness), one was flawed but very good (In Bruges), two were mediocre as all hell (Sunshine Cleaning and The Yellow Handkerchief), and one I just plain did not care for at all (The Broken). The only one I really feel like rambling about at this late hour is Jonathan Levine’s love letter to the nineties “The Wackness.”

The film opens during a therapy session Luke Shapiro, a fairly typical 18 year old kid (Josh Peck) is discussing his problems getting laid with a psychiatrist played by Ben Kingsley. At this point one could be thinking that they might be in for a cliché psychiatry indie flick, a self-help flick like a role-reversal from “You Kill Me.” Feeling very uncomfortable Luke asks to leave early, dropping a quarter of weed on the table. A moment later Kingsley has pulled out a gigantanormous bong and is happily puffing away with the help of a plethora of toys in front of him. Obviously this isn’t going to be your normal psychiatric comedy, this is something much different. I don’t think I’ll be seeing a better opening all year, they really should just put this one scene online it sets the tone perfectly for the movie.

The film follows Luke through the summer of 1994 in New York City, he’s a crafty kid who has turned to dealing marajuana to save for his college education and hopefully quietly help his parents with a serious financial issue. Being a drug dealer at this time is a very dangerous thing since Giuliani is cracking down hard to “clean up” NYC pissing off just about everyone around that liked to have fun. Most of the kids that Luke knows leave town with their families during the summer, the psychiatrist’s daughter (Olivia Thirlby) remains in town striking up a friendship with Luke.

Much like 2000’s Sexy Beast Ben Kingsley’s performance elevates the film to a whole other level, completely knocking it out-of-the-park. He hasn’t been this great in a long time, easily his best work since SB. Although his role in The Wackness is unlike anything he’s done before, but now probably is my favorite performance of his. His performance may not be as award-inducing as Gandhi, but Dr. Squires is really such god damn fun and I never in my life thought I’d be seeing the guy singing along to a nineties rap song with Mary Kate Olsen.

Second to Mr. Kingsley Josh Peck owns this film, delivering a truly break-out performance. It’s a tough role to pull off for someone at his age, he’s practically in every frame of this film and consistently is interesting. This Sundance also continues my huge crush on Olivia Thirlby, last year her scene-stealing performance in David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels really stuck with me. People may be more familiar with her these days from her role as Ellen Page’s friend in Juno. She’s got a huge future ahead of her, and I must say she looks really damn good in a bikini.

Mary Kate Olsen plays a small role in the film, but it’s not as distracting as some may expect and it really fits the with nineties nostalgia element of the film. She plays a free-loving hippyish girl that is one of Luke’s regular customers. She’s really matured over the years and I very much doubt anyone is going to be thinking of Full House at any point during this movie.

I think what’s most surprising about the film is actually Jonathan Levine, “All The Boys Love Mandy Lane” was a successful little dramatic twist on the eighties slasher, but this film really is something much more complex both dramatically and visually. Along with cinematographer Petra Korner they’ve created this really beautiful trippy ride of a movie subtly shifting between reality and dreaminess aided by cg effects work in places that you would least expect it. If anything Jonathan’s earned some serious stripes as a director here and should now be considered a major talent with the emergence of The Wackness.

Okay im going to shutup now. Its nearing 6AM and I was originally planning on going to an 8AM movie. The film is undoubtedly going to get picked up and distributed widely, there’s so much that is marketable about it and it very much has potential to breed a cult following. I can’t wait to see what Jonathan Levine and Occupant films cook up next.

Sorry for any glaring grammatical issues or lines that just don’t make conscious sense, its just that I’d really like to get an hour of sleep tonight.

Good night/morning

Ravvy
Want to Mail the Ultimate Male... Rav? Click Here!