High times ... Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby in The Wackness
Bar a few exceptions, the critics reckon this tale of a teenage marijuana dealer and his unlikely friendship with a stoner shrink in mid-90s New York is a pretty dope movie. Ben Kingsley's turn as the aforementioned drug-addled psychiatrist is roundly praised, and there's plenty of mad love for Josh Peck's lovelorn marijuana entrepreneur.
"There's an undeniable pleasure in wallowing in other people's seamy, if entertaining, problems," writes the Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert. "Even Dr. Squires' descent into despair is accompanied by one-liners and a great soundtrack."
"The film's forlorn charm is a little reminiscent of Cameron Crowe's adolescent memoir Almost Famous," writes The Independent's Anthony Quinn. "It's a tiny bit soppy, too, but you can forgive that in a teenager."
"Sir Ben is enjoying himself hugely, and so, up to a point, will you," says our own Peter Bradshaw, while Trevor Johnston of Time Out reckons "Kingsley's shamelessly zingy performance adds welcome pep".
He adds: "A delicate, achingly sincere summertime idyll on Fire Island offers notice of [writer-director Jonathan] Levine's evident promise, when he's not leaning too hard on pixie-chick cliches and being down with the kids."
Did you catch The Wackness at the weekend? And did it live up to its title, or was it all gravy?
