A modern day American drama, the plot is packed with drugs, hip-hop and life on the streets of New York.

Ben Kingsley stars in the role of Dr Squires, a therapist, whose life and relationships we see from the perspective of the other characters.
Set in the summer of 1994 the city of New York is pulsing with hip hop and wafting with the aroma of marijuana.

The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, is beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against crimes like noisy portable radios, graffiti and drunkenness.

Luke (Josh Peck) is a socially uncomfortable teenage pot dealer with no friends. He has issues with his parents and a colossal lack of confidence with girls.

He trades weed for sessions with his therapist, Dr. Squires whose much-younger wife (Famke Janssen) is slipping away from him.

Squires, a drug-addled shrink with a hairline retreating to the back of his neck and a state of mind slouching back to adolescence is an unlikely role model, but the two of them forge a friendship based on a mutual need.

The duo set off on a crawl that takes them all over New York, where they encounter several of Luke's business associates, including dreadlocked pixie (Mary Kate Olsen), a New Wave, keyboard-playing one-hit-wonder (Jane Adams), and Luke's supplier (Method Man).

Luke has long had an aching crush on Dr Squire's stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby from Juno), and is stunned at his good luck when she returns his affections.

Luke's innocent first love experience with Stephanie becomes a life lesson that sets him on the pathway towards adulthood. And when Squires breaks down, it is up to the younger man to throw the older one a lifeline.

Propelled by an exuberant hip hop score, The Wackness captures the spirit of 1994 when rap stars Tupac and Biggie were alive but Kurt Cobain had just died.

It is an offbeat tale of two lost souls stumbling towards maturity.