The Sundance-notorious scene in “The Wackness” doesn’t quite constitute Sir Ben and Mary-Kate going for the whole make-out but it’s close enough to “Yipe!” to count. A hazy-dazy coming-of-age story about a rap-infatuated, weed-dealing teen, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) in the summer of 1994, “The Wackness” has screwy doings and terrific dialogue, especially in Peck’s crush on girl-above-his-station Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby, from “Snow Angels” and “Juno”). There’s tender banter to spare between them. Writer-director Jonathan Levine’s script was an underground favorite among Hollywood agent-types, and the sale of his first feature, the teen horror entry “Everyone Loves Mandy Lane,” upped his profile (despite the film being bounced from one distributor to another and still not being released). The coup of “The Wackness” is the figure of Luke’s shrink… who’s also a customer… who’s also the stepfather of Stephanie. Sir Ben Kingsley! He treats Levin’s antic dialogue with the comic gravitas of secondary Shakespeare, and it’s a lark. With Famke Janssen, Method Man, Jane Adams. 101m. Anamorphic 2.40 widescreen. See Newcity.com on Friday for an extended interview with Levine. (Ray Pride)
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