THE WACKNESS
CAROLINE: It’s not all Will Smith all the time this holiday weekend. There are a couple other options out there, such as “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” which opens wide this week.
RYAN: Skip it!
CAROLINE: Please; all the little girls are lining up to see it as we speak. But there’s also a new movie called “The Wackness.”
RYAN: I love the title, but I didn’t get to see it – was it good?
CAROLINE: I liked it a lot. With all the huge summer movies that are out right now, I don’t know that you need to run to the theater to see this, unless you’re an indie lover. But it’s a very New York City movie, which I loved. The music is awesome too; lots of Biggie Smalls. It takes place in NYC in the summer of 1994, and they do a great job of capturing the feel of the heat and the humidity.
RYAN: I certainly know what that feels like. Who’s in it?
CAROLINE: Well, I’m sure you heard about it last year when it was all the buzz that Mary-Kate Olsen makes out with Sir Ben Kingsley in a new movie. “The Wackness” is that movie.
RYAN: Oh right!
CAROLINE: Believe it or not, Mary-Kate Olsen is actually decent. She doesn’t have a huge part, but she plays a drugged-out hippy chick with dreadlocks which, shockingly, she plays very convincingly.
RYAN: Ha.
CAROLINE: It stars this kid Josh Peck who’s on that big Nickelodeon show that we don’t watch called “Drake and Josh.” This movie is definitely a big departure for him ‘cuz he plays a pot dealer. It’s not for the kiddies. I guess he’s trying to prove that he’s not just a teenybopper star.
RYAN: I love it when kid stars do a mature role in a gritty movie about drugs and sex.
CAROLINE: Totally. Olivia Thirlby is great as Josh’s love interest/potential virginity taker. We loved her in “Juno” and she’s great in this too. She plays the ultimate high school cool girl.
RYAN: It sounds interesting. What’s your bottom line?
CAROLINE: If you’re tired of the summer action movies and are looking for a smaller film, this is a good one.
RYAN: But unlike all the blockbusters with great special effects, it’s not exactly a movie you have to see on the big screen.
CAROLINE: You can definitely wait to rent this. But if you have memories of hot summer nights in the ‘90s, and you like smaller films, you’ll dig it.
RYAN: [sings’ Hot child in the city!
CAROLINE: Exactly.