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Matinee Melee: Nostalgia, relief as ’90s relived

By: Holly Leber
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By: Casey Phillips
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Casey Phillips: This movie’s main selling point is Sir Ben Kingsley’s manic performance as drug-addicted psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Squires. His jittery displays of a rebelliousness youthfulness shine amidst the rest of the awkwardness and pathos, which this film’s characters are brimming with.

The relationship between Squires’ drug dealing patient, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck), his stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), for example, is stripped of rosy gloss and depicted, realistically, as rough-edged and hesitant. In particular, one mid-film scene depicting their first kiss is sure to make most guys in the audience wince in sympathy at his rushed, forceful peck. Ditto their first time in bed.

The fun doesn’t stop there, though. There are domestic disputes, failing marriages and a borderline pedophiliac encounter in a phone booth with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge cameo by Mary-Kate Olsen as a drugged-out free spirit. This movie celebrates the moments you don’t want to share; it’s the anti-Kodak film.

Holly Leber: Those painfully adolescent scenes are bound to make most women cringe a bit as well. It’s not only you men who have memories of being utterly awkward and uncomfortable in your youth. The movie definitely doesn’t pretty up the experience of being 17 and on the verge of adulthood (you think), more or less convinced that the adults around you have no idea how the world really works.

“The Wackness” (the title is explained in the movie) is set in 1994 New York City, mere months into Rudy Giuliani’s mayoral reign. This probably explains Luke’s ability to sell copious amounts of marijuana out of an Italian ices cart. Makes me wonder about all those ices vendors who parked outside my high school back then. Filmed in New York, writer/director Jonathan Levine manages to avoid the now shiny-happy appearance of high-traffic areas like Times Square, but captures the simple beauty that exists in the city.

Casey: Another central element of period New York urban culture highlighted in “The Wackness” is the music. Songs by mid-90s rappers like The Notorious B.I.G. (“The What”) and The Wu-Tang Clan (“Tearz”) fill out a great soundtrack. Within the context of the plot, the music is used in that most ritualistic of bonding ceremonies: the creation and presentation of the mix tape. On a similar note, the movie’s dialog is spot on, or at least seems fairly authentic (I was attending fourth grade in Knoxville in 1994).

Considering Levine’s relatively untried pedigree —one other movie and a documentary, both with lukewarm receptions — “The Wackness” manages to captivate. Watching characters humiliate themselves and ruin their lives, seemingly oblivious to the inevitable, has a definite train-wreck appeal. In some ways, it feels a bit like a modern take on Greek tragedies in that sense. In the end, I came to empathize with Shapiro’s hopelessly romantic outlook and Dr. Squire’s feeble grasping for meaning in a world fuzzed by drugs and unachievably high expectations.

Holly: I was a high school freshman in New York during the time the movie takes place, so I can say that the dialogue was pretty accurate, though I’d blissfully blocked out most mid-90s slang. I can’t quite verify the authenticity of the 1994 pot and promiscuity culture as I was most certainly a “good girl,” but that’s the thing about “The Wackness” — there really aren’t any “good” guys or “bad” guys. Everyone is both flawed and redeemable.

Young leads Peck and Thirlby both show potential even if they didn’t quite spark on screen with each other. He had a better chemistry portraying his character’s oddball friendship with Kingsley. I also have to recommend the heartbreaking “Mean Creek” in which Peck is featured. Thirlby was preferable in “Juno” and “Snow Angels” (and was more believable portraying a romantic partner to Michael Angarano in that film). Look for both of them in the upcoming “Safety Glass.” It’s always interesting to see how actors who have worked together before interact the second time around.

Casey: This film definitely has its flaws, you’re right. But people (and cities) are flawed, and this film is a movie about people and their homes, so in that sense, it’s a success in my book.

Holly: “The Wackness” isn’t for everyone, but for those who didn’t live an idyllic adolescence, this movie will take you back with a nice mix of nostalgia and relief that days gone by have indeed gone.

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