There was a time when Jonathan Levine was one of the most exciting young directors working in the business – his ability to take on any project across multiple genres and infuse them with a signature style proved that he was one of the most intriguing artists at the time, being the perfect combination of a journeyman filmmaker and an auteur, which very rarely tend to intersect. It isn’t even a matter of saying that he lost that spark, since Levine has been inexplicably absent from cinema for what is going on half a decade now, despite having been working steadily for over a decade. If you want to fully understand the incredible promise that he had, it’s recommended to take a look at The Wackness, which was the director’s sophomore directorial effort, and perhaps the first moment the industry took note of this burgeoning young talent who emerged seemingly out of nowhere a few years prior with a well-received pastiche of the slasher genre that confirmed him as someone to watch. He followed it with this coming-of-age comedy that takes us into the life of a newly-graduated teenager as he realizes his friends from high school had very little interest in cavorting with him, and that he is rendered essentially alone, with his domestic situation being less-than-ideal, and his only companion being his eccentric, drug-addicted psychologist that proves to be both the voice and reason and agent of chaos as our protagonist undergoes a voyage of self-discovery in which he unearths many of the more challenging secrets of adulthood that he was not prepared to learn. It’s a very funny film, but one that has a lot of depth, which is why The Wackness has been elevated to something of a cult film, since its humour and approach to some of its ideas are decidedly oppositional to the mainstream, while still being quite brilliant in its own right.

Levine has spoken about how The Wackness is partially autobiographical, not necessarily in the plot details or the events that transpire, but rather functioning as an exploration of New York City in which he came of age in the early 1990s, which was a considerably different place back then as opposed to what it has become in the last thirty years. The film takes the form of quite an unconventional coming-of-age narrative, in which the director takes us on quite a fascinating journey into the past, at least how he remembers it. Setting it in the early 1990s opens up endless possibilities for Levine in terms of the cultural references, as well as the overall experience, since there is something about a coming-of-age story set in the past that makes it even more engaging, as it creates an additional sense of nostalgia, one that feels a lot more authentic. It is quite an exhilarating film, and it is never easy to predict in which direction it intends to travel, with the unexpected nature of the narrative being one of its strongest tools, and the primary reason The Wackness feels so compelling, even when it is playing the same thematic notes we have seen countless times before. Arguably, the film doesn’t ever feel like a personal manifesto, since Levine separates himself from the narrative as much as possible, making it clear that he intends to offer reflections and recollections, rather than relaying his entire adolescence through the film, which is a technique many directors utilize quite well, but which would not feel entirely natural in the case of this film, which is far more engaging due to the separation between the audience and the story, a boundary that Levine respects and uses as a way to create a very specific tone that envelopes the entire film.

The best way to describe The Wackness would be as a mood piece, a film that is driven primarily by atmosphere. The story is effortlessly straightforward and finds its nuance in how it presents its ideas, which are often quite captivating and always compelling, even if they don’t quite make sense without context. It is a wacky film at times, and often plays like a stream-of-consciousness narrative, with the protagonist’s thoughts sometimes manifest visually in moments of inserted abstraction, existing to show the world how he sees it, or intends to have it seen. It’s not an original approach in the traditional sense, but it proves to be suitably challenging in a way that is always quite compelling, especially in the quieter moments when it becomes clear that there is something more complex simmering beneath the surface. The emotions are kept precise and meaningful, and there is never a sense of needing to redefine what these kinds of films represent. Levine avoids overt sentimentality, but still invites us to become invested in the protagonists and their journeys of self-discovery. The methods he utilises in this regard are quite fascinating, and while the film does seem relatively straightforward at first, it proves to have a lot more depth, something we only discover as the film progresses and we learn more about these characters and everything that they represent. It’s a unique film in how it captures some of the more confusing elements that come when attempting to navigate that ambiguous space between adolescence and adulthood, and it does surprisingly well in developing on these ideas, which is a credit to Levine, whose forthright honesty when developing this film is beyond admirable and one of the many reasons it feels so enthralling, even at its most simple.

One aspect of The Wackness that we notice from its first moments is that this is a film that is not afraid of having unlikable characters in the central roles. The idea that a coming-of-age story has to have protagonists who are without fault is a fallacy, especially since one of the fundamental elements of these stories tends to be the importance of growth and development, and if there is nothing from which they can grow, the story simply cannot go anywhere. Casting Josh Peck as the lead was a risky choice, since he was primarily known for his work aimed at younger audiences, where his comedic timing and tendency towards slightly more over-the-top characters made him wildly popular. Like many young actors, Peck chose to go in search of something deeper at his first opportunity and decided on this much darker role, which showed not only the depth that he had previously not been able to demonstrate but also a complexity that had been entirely ignored in his more upbeat work previously. He’s exceptional in the film, and clearly ventured into The Wackness with the intention of proving his skills, which often manifests in him going slightly too far in terms of crafting this character as a more unlikable protagonist, a daring but understandable choice that we never quite fully embrace until the final act, when all the pieces begin to come together. He is joined by Ben Kingsley, who is not a stranger to darker roles, but who goes in the other direction and delivers a more comedic performance, one that is perhaps not very good (since he does tend to rely on the more troublesome tics that have followed him as an actor throughout his career), but he captures the neurotic energy of this eccentric psychologist quite well, even when it seems to sometimes be a bit too excessive. Peck and Kingsley have unexpected chemistry and prove to be formidable scene partners, setting the foundation for this film and making it such an engaging entry into the canon of films focused on odd couples coming together in a time of crisis.

The Wackness is certainly not a film that is immune to criticism, and any suggestion that it is free of flaws is categorically wrong, but like many independent comedies produced at the time, these imperfections are the source of most of its charm. It never quite meshes as well as it perhaps should, and it sometimes comes across as slightly too inconsistent, not entirely sure as to whether it wants to be an eccentric dark comedy or a bleak social realist drama. However, it manages to combine these elements together to create a complex, unnerving coming-of-age satire that looks at the challenges of growing up, especially when it comes to someone who has yet to find his footing in the real world, which proves to be more intimidating than he initially could have expected. Levine benefited massively from the goodwill that came about throughout this film, which was entirely expected, and ultimately the reason this film feels like such a captivating experience. It’s not always as strong as it could have been, at least not in terms of narrative prowess and some of its more technical elements (I can understand the reason behind using washed-out cinematography, it just simply doesn’t serve much purpose outside of the first few moments), but these are all relatively minor issues with an otherwise solid, well-meaning film that gets to the root of what it means to mature, and the obstacles many of us face on that perilous but inevitable journey.