And the award for “best and most talented actor who has done nothing but outrageous crap for the last few years” goes to…. BEN KINGSLEY! Yaaayyyy!
Ok, Kingsley rules as an actor… we all know this. He’s also made some of the most mind boggling film choices in recent years that I just can’t fathom. (Bloodrayne, Sound of Thunder, Suspect Zero, Thunderbirds ect.) Why he’s done these films I’ll never know. I don’t believe for a second that he “needed the pay cheque”… he’s Ben fricking Kingsley. I’ll have to ask him something if I ever get the chance.
Anyway, this new film of his that he’s just signed on for sounds like it has lots of promise… and his character sounds more than interesting. Yahoo News gives us this:
Sir Ben Kingsley and Nickelodeon star Josh Peck are taking a crack at the indie comedy “The Wackness.” Also on board are Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Olivia Thirlby and rapper Method Man. Set in New York in summer 1994, the story revolves around a troubled teenage drug dealer (Peck) who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist (Kingsley) intent on living his life to the fullest. The two form an unlikely friendship, but things get complicated when the kid falls for the doctor’s daughter (Olivia Thirlby).
It does run the risk of being sort of “ater schoold special-ish” but on the other hand I think there is potential here. Josh Peck has loads of potential, Mary-Kate Olsen is a total unknown commodity here. We’ve never actually really, honestly seen her act yet… so I reserve all judgement at this point (although her name being attached isn’t an advantage to the project). And always give Ben the benefit of the doubt… no matter how many times that bites you in the ass.
