The film's subtle shifts in tone and intent are handled brilliantly by Josh Peck, who plays a troubled teen drug dealer with the damaged bravado and raw honesty of a young De Niro.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 11, 2020

Jonathan Levine's Sundance hit comedy bonds a drug-dealing teen with an eccentric psychiatrist in a daffy search through Rudyland.

| Jun 1, 2020

What can I say? THE WACKNESS is the most WACKTASTIC, FAN -*$&%ING-TASTIC film of the year!

| Nov 6, 2019

A pretty standard coming-of-age tale about a boy's last summer of childhood.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 6, 2019

As unoriginal and cliché-ridden as Levine's screenplay is, he has taken care in developing some genuinely attractive off the wall characters

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 4, 2018

Fortunately Peck's diamond acting pulls the film above its murky setting. It takes some courage to be this vulnerable on screen, and Peck is uncommonly good at it.

| Aug 7, 2018

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 18, 2011

An exercise in style and wit, two commodities that never go out of fashion.

| Aug 15, 2011

Josh Peck and Ben Kingsley make for an oddly engaging couple in Jonathan Levine's audacious comedy about sex, drugs, and unexpected friendships.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 31, 2011

It's an utterly routine picture, but its low-key mood and acting disarm

| Aug 26, 2009

With a game cast and cool songs from the era... heartfelt moments battling clumsy ones, The Wackness isn't quite dope but, like a good mixtape it is full of highlights.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 30, 2009

Dumb title? Certainly. Perfectly proportioned? Nope. True-to-life? Certainly not. An enjoyably quirky indie comedy? You bet.

Full Review | Original Score: 74/100 | Jan 19, 2009

Parallel yet intertwined older and younger generations, and a real girl, set this above the usual young dudes genre, changing from comic to romantic to poignant and back.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 3, 2008

If nothing else, it's probably worth seeing for the kissing scene between Kingsley and Mary-Kate Olsen.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 19, 2008

It's an old theme. Levine tackles it with gusto and verve, and if ultimately he overdoes it with a hi-end quirky style, I think there's enough authenticity here to see the film through.

| Nov 14, 2008

This is a gently humorous and beautifully moving film.

| Nov 14, 2008

Levine's extended use of sepia-toned cinematography adds to the film's charmless look, matching the bleakness of the lives of most of the people he presents to the audience.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 14, 2008

It muddles through on its period infatuation and on Kingsley's dope-loving turn as a doctor constantly on the verge of another hit.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 14, 2008

The performances are all very fine, but the standout is Ben Kingsley's Squires. It's so unexpected.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 14, 2008

Better than most "coming of age" stories due to some fine comic and dramatic performances by a talented cast.

| Original Score: B | Nov 13, 2008