Review of It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) by Benjamin F — 24 Nov 2012

Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden follow Half Nelson and Sugar with a lighter, fluffier little coming of age indie film. Haven't seen Sugar yet, but the critical response to It's Kind of a Funny Story is sharply divided from both of Fleck and Boden's prior films. Still, for what it is, It's Kind of a Funny Story isn't bad at all, and a few of its performances and the soundtrack work to elevate the experience.

With a fairly large ensemble cast, most of the characters don't get any development or stand as much more than one-dimensional cutouts. Keir Gilchrist turns a solid enough lead performance for a fairly cliche coming of age story teen protagonist and manages to make his character, Craig, likable enough to make the film work. Zach Galifianakis, as the biggest star in the cast, turns the strongest and most complex performance in the whole film. They apparently cut out the darkest elements of his character from the original novel, weakening his character's story, but while we never learn anywhere near all of his story in the film, the pathos he brings to the screen is the weightiest, swinging between a funny mentor figure and an unhinged individual dealing with a deep depression. Emma Roberts does a decent job as the cute indie movie love interest girl - who at least technically eludes being a manic pixie dream girl by a small margin, as largely undeveloped as her character remains - but her character isn't too challenging in the first place. Viola Davis and the Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi are completely convincing in their doctor roles, but both have minimal screen time and don't have particularly challenging parts. Zoe Kravitz gets to play a character whose complexity doesn't extend much beyond being a longtime temptation for Craig, in her sex appeal. Neither a complicated nor challenging character. Lauren Graham and the hilarious Jim Gaffigan both receive minimal screen time as Craig's parents, in an entirely straight-faced roles. Matthew Maher and Adrian Martinez show up as supporting character patients who both possess a quiet pathos, in addition to bringing some comic relief, but their stories aren't explored at all. And Bernard White plays Craig's deeply depressed roommate, who serves as more of a metaphor than a character. The rest of the cast is rounded out by various comedians - including Morgan Murphy and Leo Allen - in small straight-faced roles and an assortment of other talented actors. There isn't a bad performance in the bunch, but there are very few characters with any actual complexity - the film feels more like a brief vacation to a mental ward than anything else.

Speaking of which, as someone who's had experience with mental health facilities, I can speak to that the portrayal of a mental hospital experience in It's Kind of a Funny Story isn't extremely accurate, and it's more whitewashed than anything else as so to tell us the story of a mildly troubled teenager's self-discovery. I can relate to the experience of initial commitment, wanting to be released as soon as possible. But from there, everything is largely lightweight. For reasons explained very briefly in the plot, the adults and teenagers were mixed in this story - where generally adult and teen inpatients are kept very separate in mental health facilities for obvious reasons - but every character was either well adjusted enough to be fine with that, or effectively flanderized to the point of being a running background joke with a touch of pathos, as many of the minor characters were. The story told by the film is a very lightweight and gentle one, with the lead character learning about himself, life, and the world from his interactions with several of the other patients, changing his attitudes and viewpoints from day to day, with even a few fantasy sequences as the patients perform a rendition of David Bowie's "Under Pressure" and Craig discovers latent artistic talents he'd never really realized before. Convenient moments of self-discovery that remind us that more than anything, It's Kind of a Funny Story is more interested in being a lighthearted coming of age story set against an unusual backdrop, with a few characters' deeper troubles hinted at but largely unexplored, and a slightly bruised story of young love blossoming set atop everything else. For all that it is, while It's Kind of a Funny Story isn't a particularly deep film, it's still a legitimately enjoyable little story. And ultimately, its portrayal of the protagonist's time in a mental ward remains unoffensive to those who've actually been there by actually acknowledging to the viewer that that's not what the story was really about - troubled people seeking help in a mental hospital - and that Craig himself really wasn't all that troubled compared to other patients. The development of awareness of the others' problems and their weight was part of Craig's story, and this film was very much his story, and as such not really about those who'd obviously been in the system much longer and weren't exactly living with hope.

Aside from having a solid script - never laugh out loud funny, but understated and gentle enough in hits humor to be enjoyable, while it never goes too dark, either - the film is well shot and includes a lot of particularly artsy, creative moments, like the animations of Craig's artwork. Further elevating the experience is the film's excellent soundtrack, provided especially notably by Broken Social Scene and The XX. Very much your sort of 'typical indie movie soundtrack,' but enjoyable nonetheless in how it contributes to the film's atmosphere.

At heart, It's Kind of a Funny Story is closer to a 3 and a half star film in most respects - it's good, but not great. But I've elevated it to a 4-star rating for the soundtrack, the persistence of pathos even in the shallowest and simplest of characters' writing, and ultimately the fact that for what it is, the film is simply a pleasant way to spend a bit of time. It's Kind of a Funny Story won't blow your mind or change your life, nor change the face of cinema in any way. Nor is it even Fleck and Boden's best film, but more of an experiment for them, clearly, in doing something different from their usual darker, heavier films that they've proven a real talent for. Still, where It's Kind of a Funny Story is the weakest of their three films so far, it's a pleasant and enjoyable story with real talent and imagination involved. If you're looking for a great mental institution story, you're probably better going with the likes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (I've read the book, but still need to see the reportedly brilliant film), but in the least, as far as solid, gentle indie coming of age films in recent years go, It's Kind of a Funny Story is a warm, enjoyable little film. It's easy to criticize, and criticism is due, but it's hard to hate for all that shines through despite its flaws and relative lack of depth in its story. The world can use more films that remind it's okay not to respond to hurt people with further battery.