boys blooming in new york city

The last time I inhaled the stale buttery smell and readjusted for a chance of comfort in the worn out chairs of the Dendy Cinema on George Street, I thought about all the bizarre, awful and amazing things I had experienced watching its screens. I sat reminiscing, ignorant of the memories I was about to inherit from “The Wackness” (2008) and how it would recall my appreciation for another film I love called, “Raising Victor Vargas” (2003). These two films are set a decade apart but both tell the sweaty, awkward and beautiful stories of boys coming of age in the summer of New York City. Energetic yet understated, they let you into the culture, home and thinly concealed vulnerability of their teenage protagonists.

Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) is an unlikely portrait of a drug dealer obsessed with the emerging sounds of hip-hop coming from the streets of his city. He's a slightly chubby, sloppy outsider who only gets invited to the party for his business. "The Wackness" unfolds with his high school graduation in the summer of 1994 and follows the unlikely friendship he forms with one of his clients, Dr Squires (Ben Kingsley). Kingsley magnificently embodies the unhinged and riotous Squires, a middle-aged psychotherapist who pays Shapiro for dope with his 'expert' counsel. He also happens to be the stepfather of Shapiro’s beautiful classmate, Stephanie.

This arrangement works for Shapiro who is 'mad depressed' due to the constant fighting of his parents as they are threatened with eviction, his lack of sexual experience and longing for Stephanie. Peck portrays the sensitive but streetwise Shapiro effortlessly, his shyness providing an amusing contrast to the manic disposition of Squires. They develop an odd father-son relationship fuelled by drugs, alcohol, mix tapes and brutal honesty. We experience the tension, intimacy and connection shared by these two troubled males at the opposite ends of life as the film exposes the alarming similarities of their needs and confusion.

Shapiro also embarks on a friendship with Stephanie that confronts his innocence and desires as she guides him through his first glorious yet painful sexual experiences. His interaction with Stephanie is a refreshingly candid take on teenage infatuations and sexuality; a rare exploration of young m

ale emotional vulnerability. “The Wackness” reveals and celebrates the naiveté of a boy on the cusp of adulthood with humour and tenderness.

The peculiar sparkle and exuberance of this film fully blooms when the two friends hit the streets of Manhattan with an ice-cream trolley stocked with marijuana and strapped with a boom-box unleashing the sounds of hip-hop royalty like Tribe Called Quest, Notorious B.I.G. and N.W.A. Hip-hop culture pervades "The Wackness" as the film affectionately captures how its music, aesthetic, and language invigorated and transforme

d popular culture in the 90s. Observing the characters discover this music and fumble with a new vernacular literally growing around them, was a delightfully nostalgic experience because it recalled personal memories of being a teenager in this era. I’ll never forget hearing “Eye Know” by De La Soul on the radio for the first time – it’s still my favourite song. Adolescents of the 90s will simultaneously relish and cringe at all the popular culture references to the time - Reebok pumps and Beverly Hills 90210 just to name a few. There’s even a nod to the contemporaneous rise of grunge.

“The Wackness” was the perfect film to

say goodbye to the Dendy George St Cinemas because its qualities reflected the best kind of films I saw there – unique, sincere, fresh and surprisingly complex. This is a film that will always linger in my memory, just like “Raising Victor Vargas”.

Who could ever forget Victor Vargas (Victor Rasuk) and his undying quest for the attention of ‘Juicy’ Judy Gonzalez (Judy Marte) during a stinking hot summer on the Lower East Side? Victor appears to be the cocky, smooth-talking teenage lothario of his Dominican neighbourhood. The film opens with his very curious lip-licking sexual display for Fat Donna, a heavily overweight upstairs neighbour. When his little sister, Vicky (Krystal Rodriguez), discovers their sexual involvement she immediately spreads the gossip much to the humiliation of Victor. He vehemently denies the rumours and with defensive bravado decides to pursue the hottest and most aloof girl on the block, ‘Juicy’ Judy. The problem for Victor is that Judy, relentlessly harassed by all the local boys, has grown suspicious and hateful of any male attention. Her scowl is like armour as she blocks Victor’s persistent advances, dismissing him as ridiculous and superficial. Judy also does a great comic imitation of Victor for her best friend Melonie (Melonie Diaz) who shares the same contempt for th

e opposite sex.

The teenage characters in “Raising Victor Vargas” are a couple of years younger than Shapiro and Stephanie in “The Wackness” so they unearth their sexuality with more innocence and apprehension. Judy and Melonie are sassy and quick to defend their integrity when interacting with boys but they also exhibit a lingering curiousity and desire for their attention. The negotia

tions of intimacy and nervous flirtation between Melonie and Harold (Victor’s best friend) are both lovely and uncomfortably real. I caught myself smiling but cringing at the same time, feeling like I had intruded upon an actual teenager’s bedroom. But, the heart of this incredibly raw and genuine portrayal of teenagers is the slow falling away of Victor and Judy’s protective facades as they begin to be honest with each other and seek a true connection. The whole time I was watching this film I kept thinking – “if only I’d seen this when I was fifteen, I would have known it was this hard and weird for everyone!”

“Raising Victor Vargas” also invites us into the turbulent family and home life of Victor. He shares a room with his little sister and brother in a tiny apartment under the guidance of his strict and slightly hysterical grandma. Her old-world values lead her to believe that Victor is corrupting his younger siblings with his licentious behaviour. She constantly reprimands him and eventually attempts to reject him from the family in a sad but humorous scene. We see the clash of cultures and generations impact heavily on this family who love and fight one another; a small window into the conflicts that arise in immigrant families when children are born into the culture of a new country.

The performances in “Raising Victor Vargas” are sparkling with sincerity and subtlety – it is easy to forget these are fictional characters. Perhaps this is partially due to the fact that the cast were all non-professional actors that were filmed on location. Their stunningly sophisticated yet unvarnished acting was solicited by feature debut director, Peter Sollett, who is also the director of upcoming flick “Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist” starring Michael Cera.

So, there it is…two gorgeous, flawed boys perspiring and growing in NYC portrayed in two different films both generously flavoured with poignancy and humour. I hope you love them as much as I do.

R.I.P Dendy George St – you were stinky but lovely too.

written by Kasia