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sirkh1 [ 8.5 ]
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Shit. I saw this movie for the first time in the summer of 2010, the first summer after I graduated high school. I still look back and wish there was more I did…both in high school, and in that summer. How was I supposed to know how much would change?
In “The Wackness,” a film that heavily deals with hip-hop culture in NYC circa 1994 (multiple characters in it complain about the new constraints Rudy Guiliani had put on the city), Josh Peck does an impressive 180-degree half-revolution from nerdy, goofy teenager on the Nickelodeon show “Drake & Josh,” to a subdued, lonely hip-hop-loving weed dealer in “The Wackness”. You honestly could not ask for a bigger character change, and as the person whom the story revolves around, he does very well. In the beginning of the movie, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) inquires why there is “no joy” in his life – or at least in the fact that he is graduating from high school. And you learn later in the film that there isn’t much joy in Squires’ life either, but he does remember what it was like to be a high schooler and he really does miss it.
Luke (Josh Peck) narrates to himself with an emotionless pessimism on how he’ll graduate high school, get older, and die – unhappy with the life most people live. But after graduation, he meets Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby) who empathizes with his isolation. The scene where she looks up at Luke, dancing with another kid, to Raekwon’s “Heaven & Hell” always affects me particularly for some reason.
There is some honest, meaningful dialogue here from everyone – Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, and “Juno”’s Olivia Thirlby. Certain things crumble – but they do so realistically, as my friend said, and that’s the way it is. The end of the film indicates that all of the characters will progress in life…just through “baby steps”. And that is something that happens in real life we all should be thankful for.
(Had trouble deciding whether to give this an 8 or an 8.5, but I think 8.5 is fair. It's a pretty great movie.)
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| Weighted Rating | : 7.0 |
| No. Ratings | : 2 | |
| No. Reviews | : 1 | |
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