Directed by Jonathan Levine
Viewed on 4-4-10
Oh No! I didn't just watch a movie set in NYC. I hate that. I try to avoid films set in either NYC or LA, as well as movies about filmmaker or screenwriter. Just a rule of thumb I have.
I almost turned off the movie after about 30 minutes. I kept waiting for something to happen. Then I was taken by surprise as I realized that all of a sudden, amazingly (ok I'll stop)... the movie went places. From first love to shrinking the therepist, the movie did a nice job wrapping up all the well written and well played characters. Ben Kingsley was brilliant as usual. The evolution of the main character was supurb as a coming of age film. Turned out all right.
It took most of the movie to reveal what the heck "wackness" even means. Here's a comparison: The theory of Dopeness vs. Wackness. Dope people are loose, layed back, abuse substances, and tend to be stuck in a routine. Wack people are high-strung, stress riding, self esteem doubting, and optimistic about change.
This film is set in 1994. The soundtrack is loaded down with period music, primarily driven by hip hop (or rap... depending on how old you are) but augmented with some classic gems. I'm not a fan of hip hop, but it wasn't a problem for me to still enjoy the movie. The themes of tagging, partying, drugging, and "hip hop" language seemed a litte forced at times, but really captured the ninties.
For a slow start and minimal sub plots with any significant conflict, I'll give it a B-.
Rated R for pervasive drug use, language and some sexuality.
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