Favorite New Films: The Wackness
posted by The Joe
Every year there’s a much-beloved independent film that ends up on my ‘Worst of the Year’ list for turning quirky, by-the-numbers, emotionally empty dreck into the acceptable indie landscape. Little Miss Sunshine and Juno have been my picks of the past, and I thought for sure that The Wackness would take home the honor for 2008. But what I ended up seeing instead was a small, beautiful character piece that actually works.
With a fantastic era-specific soundtrack backing it up (Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.), The Wackness takes place in 1994 New York where Rudy Giuliani’s proposed clean-up of the city becomes an identity-questioning metaphor for the lives of drug dealer Josh Peck and frazzled psychiatrist Ben Kingsley. Their bond is the film’s strange centerpiece, holding together a traditional coming-of-age tale that’s the first of its kind in ages to not feel like a Rushmore rip-off. And it’s about damn time.
So despite its misfired marketing, The Wackness is truly something special - an earnest indie film with real characters that deserves the distinction of one of the year’s very best.
The Wackness is currently playing in Minneapolis at the Uptown Theatre.
The Wackness - Trailer