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“You don't need medication, you need to get laid.”
In the sweltering New York summer of 1994 Luke Shapiro is trying to beat his depression, lose his virginity, and make ends meet by selling weed on the streets out of an old ice-cream cart - all before college starts. His pothead shrink Dr Squires (a hilarious Ben Kingsley) gives him therapy in exchange for marijuana, hands out dubious advice and finds solace from his failing marriage in their conversations. Squires clearly enjoys living vicariously through the high-school graduate - at least until Luke turns his affections toward Squires's stepdaughter.
Honoured with the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, The Wackness is a hip-hop fuelled, feel-good, coming-of-age story that catches perfectly the soul and sounds of the early 90s.
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D/S Jonathan Levine P Joe Neurauter, Keith Calder, Felipe Marino Dist Madman TD 35mm/2008/110mins
