Sir Ben Kingsley is probably the last person you'd think about when talking about a down brother. But the man who won an Oscar for his portrayal of "Gandhi" is pretty adept when it comes to going with the flow. That's exactly what he does in his new film "The Wackness," which hits theaters on Friday. Kingsley, plays a shrink named Dr. Squires who gets paid in nickel bags from one of his patients.\r
It's like dropping wisdom for weed.\r
Set in New York during the summer of '94 when hip hop was in full blast, weed was king and Rudy Giuliani was cleaning up the mean streets, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) was coming of age on the streets before heading off to college. Not only was he selling dope supplied by Method Man, he was also macking his shrink's step-daughter (Olivia Thirby).\r
I have to say it was a little jolting seeing Kingsley speaking anything but the Queen's English and hitting a blunt with Biggie playing in the background, but you know what? It works. Ben is down.\r
I spoke to the knighted one a few weeks ago and asked him how familiar he was with the slang dictionary that was included in the press notes. Kingsley smiled and said, "I wasn't really down with any of it! I had some very good teachers though."\r
Given his age and background, that's understandable. But let's see how some of you do.\r
Blunt\r
Bounce\r
Breasteses\r
Crazy Horse\r
Dope\r
Faded\r
Ganja\r
Homeboy/Homegirl\r
Ill\r
Illin'\r
Mad\r
Mixtape\r
Peace Out\r
Wack\r
Weed\r
Word\r
If you got less than 80 percent correct you're probably a little wack, too!\r
If Kingsley and Method Man aren't enough to make you drop some dimes at the local cineplex, you might want to go just for the soundtrack. Nas, Wu-Tang, Biggie, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest and R.Kelly are all featured.