Fresh
Kingsley's shamelessly zingy performance adds welcome pep, and a delicate, achingly sincere summertime idyll on Fire Island offers notice of Levine's evident promise.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
The Wackness
Sometimes it's right to do the wrong things.
2008 · 1h 39m · R
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by
Jonathan Levine
Overview
Set in New York City in the sweltering summer, The Wackness tells the story of a troubled teenage drug dealer, who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist. Things get more complicated when he falls for one of his classmates, who just happens to be the doctor's daughter. This is a coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, music and what it takes to be a man.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
70%
Tomatometer
Fresh
That first sight of Ben Kingsley sucking down a bowl will burn into your memory. You may be watching The Wackness but it's hard to forget that this is Gandhi putting Bic to bong in Jonathan Levine's silly, sappy and sympathetic coming-of-age memoir.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Rotten
The Wackness marks a step up in ambition, but it is also self-indulgent and needlessly complicated for what it ultimately delivers: a somber John Hughes picture scored to A Tribe Called Quest and Mary J. Blige.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Rotten
On the downside: There is a wackness to The Wackness, a saggy psychic undertow that drags down its lighter and smarter aspects.
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
Fresh
The Wackness, for all its eccentricities and emotional pain, is really a sweet little film.
Tom Long, Detroit News
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