The Wackness
It stars Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Method Man.In the summer of 1994 in New York City, Luke Shapiro is trading marijuana in exchange for therapy from his psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffery Squires.As he walks out of the complex, he puts in the mixtape Squires made for him and "All the Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople begins playing.The website's consensus reads: "Sympathetic characters and a clever script help The Wackness overcome a familiar plot to make for a charming coming-of-age comedy."[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[6] Dennis Harvey of Variety opined, "Like Donnie Darko, Thumbsucker and a few others, The Wackness treads the familiar teenage male terrain with assurance and distinction.""[8] A. O. Scott of The New York Times stated, "The Wackness makes a good-faith effort to steer clear of such clichés, and succeeds and fails in roughly equal measure" and "Levine tries to compensate with a combination of historical authenticity and low-key emotional sincerity.Gleiberman also wrote, "The best thing about it is Peck, who shows you the sweet, virginal kid hiding inside the outlaw poseur."[10] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and noted, "Thirlby gives a sensual, sassy, breakthrough performance."The What," a song from that album featuring Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man, who also appears in the film as Luke's supplier, leads off the soundtrack.Levine says he considered expanding the film's soundtrack to include Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins, two of the year's biggest non-hip-hop acts, and that the original ending featured Nirvana's Lithium.