Sundance Film Festival

THE WACKNESS

SHOWTIMES

A brilliant 1990’s nuanced reflection of J. D. Salinger’s classic Fifties novel Catcher in the Rye. In place of waspy Holden Caulfield, writer-director Jonathan Levine offers up Jewish Luke Shapiro, still virginal and on the cusp of growing up and yearning for a life after high school. Adding a wonderful dimension to his 90’s coming of age tale, writer Levine pairs the needy desperate Luke, who earns money selling drugs, with Sir Ben Kingsley’s sappy-zany shrink who accepts Luke’s drugs as payments for his therapy and is on the truly troubled cusp of middle age. Like Josh he desperately needs to move on the next stage of his life. His studied slovenly appearance neatly mirrors the messiness of his life. Swirling through their daily lives is the need for that elusive dazzling duo sex and love, but not necessarily in that order. Levine at long last offers equal time pairing of the troubled coming of ages. They are joined at the hip in this wonderous gently at time painful blind groping for the realization of some form of genuine fulfillment. - Vic Skolnick, CAC Co-director

USA, 2008, 110 min., color, rated R