The Wackness

One of the busiest men in showbiz – he appeared in 11 films in 2008/2009, according to imdb.com - Sir Ben Kingsley is usually a sign of quality in even the most mediocre cinematic offering. The Wackness, winner of the Audience Favourite award at 2007’s Sundance Festival, sees Kingsley as Dr Jeffrey Squires, prominent New York psychiatrist and customer of recreational drug dealer Luke (Peck). Having just left high school, Luke plans to soon go to college, only to find everything going (quite literally) to pot during the long, hot summer of 1994. With love, life and sex weighing heavy on the minds of the two men, the scene is set for their parallel journeys to unfold with fine performances and a consistently witty script. Although there are few belly laughs, this is worth seeing for Kingsley's slow-burn performance alone, which eclipses memories of Sexy Beast and is something of a revelation.