Tuesday, December 01, 2009

The Wackness



The Wackness is, I guess, what some call a "dramedy". A funny drama, or a serious comedy. Funny it is, and weird, and different. I'll admit it took me a while to get through it, perhaps because I had a hard time deciding if I really liked it, and what it was really about.
But after finishing it I've I really liked it, and that it's about life.
It's too wide really to describe in a nutshell, read some reviews on Amazon.
But it's beautiful visually, has some beautiful women, including Olivia Thirlby and an excellent Mary Kate Olsen in a minor role (but she'll be big, you read it here first*), and it's often very funny, not the least in the unlikely form of Ben Kingsley, who plays an old, immature, stoner psychiatrist. Recommended.

*There's a subtle joke there for ya. Obviously she's already one of the most successful media personalities on the planet, close to being a billionaire I think, but also she's not yet been regarded as a "real", serious artist, and I really think she has it in her, in spades.

8 comments:

Miserere said...

I was very impressed by Olivia Thirlby when I first saw her in Snow Angels. She has a quiet kind of beauty and strong acting skills despite her young age. I foresee a bright future for her.

Ben Kingsley, on the other hand, can do anything, so I'm not surprised. I mean, who else could play Gandhi, the embodiment of Peace, then turn around and play an evil bastard in Sexy Beast?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Very true, he was outstanding in Sexy Beast.

--
I better watch Snow Angels, hadn't heard of it.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

You're right, that joke is subtler than I first thought.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thank you very much.

Subtlety is nice. But the problem is it's easily overdone, and then nobody notices.

Apparently the definition is that few will notice. Which is odd, because then it depends on the audience.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice to see the Olsens or at least one of them do something quality for a change. It's kind of weird how they are close to being billionaires without having ever done anything. Who could have predicted that those babies from the awful Fool House would have gone on to be some famous and wealthy?

Anonymous said...

Gandhi, the embodiment of Peace, then turn around and play an evil bastard in Sexy Beast?

Well, Ghandi was a fraud, it's too bad he couldn't have been the man Kingsley played. Maybe they will do a movie of Mother Teresa and make that old fraud look good too.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I'm sure it'll happen pretty soon.

The Olsen twins movies were pretty cute, in a pop/teen way. Superficial, sure.
I think, though, they made most of the dough off their fashion lines.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"It's kind of weird how they are close to being billionaires without having ever done anything."
Yeah yeah, thanks for helping, but we had already gotten the joke when Eo made it the first time.

"Maybe they will do a movie of Mother Teresa and make that old fraud look good too."
That's easy: just make it a MILF special porno. She's BOUND to look good when she reaches ecstasy!

"I think, though, they made most of the dough off their fashion lines."
I heard of high fashion dresses made of chocolate, but now this is ridiculous!
Stop eating our clothes, ya bulimic tween pair! Forget about scraping every possible cent to get richer, and get yer own friggin' slow carbs.