A few weeks ago, I interviewed Jonathan Levine and Josh Peck, the director and star of The Wackness for a story that ran on Thursday. We spent most of the time talking about the role that music plays in the film, which is set in Manhattan in 1994, right at the end of hip-hop's glory days (IMHO).
But another part of getting the vibe right was the dialogue, which is a trickier task than just collecting a solid soundtrack.
"Initially I just started using 'dope,' 'word,' 'ill,' 'whack' -- I had like five root words that I worked off of," Peck said about his preparation for the film. "Sometimes I would trip up and say to [co-star] Method Man, 'What's good?' and Jon would say, 'Yo, we didn't say that.'"
Ultimately, I'm not as in love with the dialogue as I am the soundtrack. It's just as hard to listen to a white teenager say, "I'm mad depressed, yo!" in 2008 as it was in 1994. But the film still hits on some levels, especially when Peck's character, Luke, is pursuing the out-of-his-league Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby) and learning that she may not have his best interests in mind.
Regardless, you'll at least be bobbing your head and tapping your feet throughout. And that's not such a bad way to spend 90 minutes.
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