The Wackness - Love is a Drug - DVD

Film: With a lot of melancholy Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) looks back not exactly on his just completed high school time. But the outsider doesn't really look to the future with a positive outlook either. His constantly fighting parents, the financial situation of his family and the uncertainty of what his career path should look like, cloud the thoughts of the boy. The occasional dealer finds help in the psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley), whose sessions he pays with the finest marijuana. An unusual friendship develops between the two, which helps Luke in particular to take important steps on the road to adulthood. When he falls in love with Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), the stepdaughter of his stoner mentor, happiness finally seems to have arrived in Luke's life. But unfortunately, just the opposite is true.

With The Wackness - Love is a Drug, director Jonathan Levine (All the boys love Mandy Lane) has delivered a festival favourite that tells the story of growing up in the early 90s with clever humour and quiet drama. This is true not only for the main character Josh, but also for Jeffrey, who, trapped in a bleak marriage and plagued by depression, hides behind completely outgrown behavior and must learn that you're never too old to change.

What stands out most positively about the film is that it deftly avoids drifting into common teen comedy clichés. Although parties are celebrated, drugs are consumed and first experiences with sex are made, the whole thing takes place on a relatively authentic level - apart from some small overdone aspects. Especially the relationship between Luke and Stephanie reflects this very well. If Levine had used a bit more raunchy humor here in particular or if the actors Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby acted less convincingly, the whole thing wouldn't work as well by a long shot. But because these aspects are right on, Luke and Stephanie's little getaway and its aftermath are among the film's most enjoyable and believable moments.

Acting-wise, of course, a once again superb Ben Kingsley is right at the top. The Oscar winner nails the mix of exuberant humour and sensitive drama, making every scene in which he appears as a very unconventional psychiatrist a real treat. The Wackness - Love is a Drug is a completely uninhibited indie gem that gives viewers plenty of warmth and happy smiles, and provides good entertainment in almost every minute. While there are some slight hangs in the middle section, they only stand out as very minor negatives in the overall picture. Therefore, the bottom line is: if you like American independent cinema and appreciate authentic coming-of-age films, you will get your money's worth with The Wackness - Love is a Drug. Absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: Warm colors and a decent level of sharpness are on the plus side for the picture, while slight drizzle, especially in the darker moments, and weaknesses in rendering details here and there are a bit distracting. The sound is dominated by the well-tuned dialogue and the great 90s soundtrack. Good.

Extras: A nice bonus package has been put together for the DVD release. In addition to an unfortunately unsubtitled audio commentary by Jonathan Levine and his leading man Josh Peck, there's a rather nice making of (approx. 17 mins), as well as a short documentary following director Jonathan Levine for a day during the film's promotional tour (approx. 7 mins). There are also cut scenes and a very nice amateur TV show trimmed to look old by main character Luke Shapiro (approx. 7 min.). Good.

Conclusion: The Wackness is an amusing and original portrait of growing up in the 90s. With great actors, clever dialogue and almost surprising warmth, especially in the last third, this drama can fully convince. With its adequate technical realization and the good extras there are more good reasons to add this DVD or Blu-Ray to your home cinema collection. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp