Saturday, August 02, 2008

Movies opening this week

The Wackness (Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, dir. Jonathan Levine)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I've been on vacation this week, and thus decided to forgo any movies starring mummies and/or Kevin Costner, and instead have been busy watching shark movies. So all I've seen is this coming-of-age dramedy, which played at CineVegas. I had been skeptical of what seemed like the movie's manufactured hype, and mindful of things like this review from Karina Longworth, which made the movie sound like something I wouldn't like. But despite its definite flaws, this is an entertaining and often affecting little film, not necessarily worthy of the expectations bestowed on it coming out of Sundance, but definitely worth seeing. Well-acted and well-written, if a little familiar, it's clear evidence that you can make a good movie out of an oft-told story if you approach it with passion and skill. Opened limited July 3; in Las Vegas this week

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