So, those of you who read my picks for the Top Ten Flicks of 2008 (or my summertime review of The Wackness) already know I'm a big fan of this underloved coming of age charmer about sweet, dopey dope dealer Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) and his relationships with his cynical shrink (and number one customer) Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley), the doctor's wised-up daughter (Olivia Thirlby) and the Notorious B.I.G. in Rudy Giuliani's New York, circa 1994.

If you haven't seen the film yet (or would like to relive the dopeness of The Wackness again in the privacy of your own home), you'll get a chance to use some of those gift cards you got for Ramadan on January 6th when the movie is released on DVD.

In the meantime, please to enjoy the following semi-exclusive Screengrab Sneak Preview deleted scene!

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6. THE WACKNESS



Thoughtful, well-made coming-of-age stories are usually popular, and weed has been making a cinematic comeback lately, so I’m not exactly sure why The Wackness in general and Josh Peck’s charming turn as wistful pot dealer Luke Shapiro didn’t make more of a splash in 2008. Writer/director Jonathan Levine’s evocation of Manhattan circa 1994 feels as specific and lived-in as Ben Braddock’s Pasadena or Lloyd Dobler’s Washington suburb, and it’s hard to think of a better first-love interest than Olivia Thirlby. I posted a full review of the movie back in June when it first charmed me at the Provincetown Film Festival, so rather than repeat all that praise, I’ll just paraphrase Thirlby’s character and say the film wound up on my Top Ten because, in a difficult year, it reminded me to look at the dopeness and not just the wackness.

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Here’s all I knew about The Wackness going in: it won the audience award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, it starred Ben Kingsley as a kooky psychiatrist, Mary-Kate Olsen had a cameo making out with the aforementioned knight of the British Empire, it had something to do with New York wigger culture and it sounded unbelievably annoying.

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