That Is Wack, Dood

Or doodette. Read Dana Stevens in Slate on The Wackness, a review better than the movie if these are what count for selling points:

Luke and his shrink, Dr. Jeffery Squires (Ben Kingsley), have worked out a unique barter system: one session of therapy in exchange for one quarter bag of weed. Squires, a depressed, drug-addicted former beatnik in a miserable marriage, is something of a head case himself, but his advice—which boils down to “have as much sex as possible”—is the only thing that makes Luke feel better. The summer is shaping up to be mad wack (that’s “really bad,” according to the glossary that comes with the film’s press notes), until Luke falls for Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), Dr. Squires’ beautiful and pleasure-loving stepdaughter.

Half out of boredom, Stephanie begins joining Luke on his pot-dealing rounds, where they encounter some nicely sketched minor characters, including indie stalwart Jane Adams as a lonely rock musician and Mary-Kate Olsen as a ditzy Deadhead. Luke and Stephanie share blunts and life stories, eventually consummating their relationship at her parent’s Fire Island cottage. But the real love story of The Wackness is the friendship between Luke and his damaged, self-destructive psychiatrist. […[ The lanky and wry Olivia Thirlby, who played Ellen Page’s best friend in Juno, also stands out, especially in a scene where the semi-estranged father and daughter watch television together.

Gawd. 1994 wasn’t the best year ever (that was 1998), but even if it was, all the retrostalgia you can fit in a Zima factory wouldn’t compensate for yet another story about bad shinks, good pot, and TV bonding. I have a few ideas about how to make art about the Long ’90s (1990-200?) without failing in this wack manner, but they’re top secret, so you’ll have to come up with your own.