“The Wackness” racks up indie greatness. A raw romantic roundelay… Tightly packed entertainment.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
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A surprisingly tender coming-of-age piece… Fully rounded characterization and ruthful dialogue… A sweet evocation of first love and first heartbreak.
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
Requisite growing-up-means-painful-lessons adroitly handled in a mix of outrageous behaviour and melancholy resignation. Design contribs are very well turned, with Petra Korner’s desaturated widescreen lensing, Josh Noyes’ diverse editorial approaches, David Torn’s ethereal original score and other contribs conveying the characters’ emotional precariousness during a Manhattan heatwave summer.
VARIETY
Nicely shot and the performances are strong.
BBC
The movie, like all the best coming-of-agers, is about embracing the painful cynicism of adulthood, and occasionally finding beauty in that pain.
THE TIMES
A frank and funny Sundance audience-award winner, it breaks the mould for contemporary teen flicks by avoiding both the pretty slickness of studio fare and the nihilism of Larry Clark’s brand of youthsploitation.
EYE WEEKLY
Rather charming, a fumbling teen love story and a fuggy reminiscence for a not-long-gone New York, a time of Adidas shell toes and A Tribe Called Quest, when a new mayor called Giuliani was cleaning up Times Square and the Fresh Prince was still fresh. It’s also a smart film about neuro ses and self-medication, where legal and illegal drugs melt into one mess.
THE GUARDIAN