The Wackness

Summer, 1994, New York City. Depressed in part because of a dysfunctional home life the result of money problems and feeling like a loser, Luke Shapiro, a drug dealer who has just graduated from high school, has for the last several months bartered weed for the services of therapist Dr. Jeff Squires, an aging hippie, in his want to talk to somebody, anybody who will listen, in a general way. Dr. Squires is the stepfather of the object of Luke's masturbatory fantasies, classmate Stephanie Squires, who sees Luke no more than a casual acquaintance. She knows about the dealer/buyer relationship between Luke and her stepfather, but not the therapy sessions, while Dr. Squires has no idea of Luke's romantic interest in Stephanie. With all their respective friends away for the summer, Stephanie suggests to Luke that they hang out together for the summer as friends. Concurrently, Luke and Dr. Squires truly do become more like friends, constantly high ones, than therapist/patient. That friendship becomes complicated not only as Luke needs advice on how to navigate the fantasy of Stephanie as his girlfriend into potential reality without divulging to Dr. Squires it is Stephanie about who he is talking, but also as Dr. Squires unburdens himself to Luke about his own problems, such as the unsatisfying life that his marriage to Stephanie's mother has become. Specifically with Luke and Stephanie, a question becomes: if Luke is able to get his wish of Stephanie as his girlfriend, what will happen come September when their pre-summer friends return and as they all move onto the next phase of their lives post-high school.