'The Wackness' is trite coming-of-age pic about the summer of 1994

By: Christy Lemire, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Like "Definitely, Maybe" from earlier this year, the coming-of-age dramedy "The Wackness" asks us to dig deep within our nostalgia wells and reminisce about the mid-1990s. Summer of 1994, to be exact. That's when writer-director Jonathan Levine graduated from high school, like his film's sullen hero, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck), who deals pot from an Italian ices cart in the New York City heat. (Levine, though, protests in the film's production notes, "I never sold weed, I swear.") The setting means we're in store for plenty of rap (Notorious B.I.G., Tribe Called Quest), references to Kurt Cobain and "Forrest Gump," Giuliani-bashing and privileged white kids liberally peppering their speech with words like "mad" and "dope." It all feels self-conscious and it makes Luke feel like an... [read full story]