Laughter and drama fill indie film ‘It’s Kind of a Funny
Story’
”
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
”
is a funny story. But though it takes a light-hearted look at
mental illness, it has its deeper moments.
The movie is based on a young adult novel by Ned Vizzini and is
a semi-autobiographical account of a teenager’s stay in a
psychiatric hospital.
Laughter and drama fill indie film ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story’
“It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is a funny story. But though it takes a light-hearted look at mental illness, it has its deeper moments.
The movie is based on a young adult novel by Ned Vizzini and is a semi-autobiographical account of a teenager’s stay in a psychiatric hospital.
“It’s about 85 percent true,” Vizzini said, in a press release. “I’m indebted to the people I did meet and get to know at the hospital, and I’m indebted to friends who gave me stories that became part of ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story.'”
Vizzini spent some time in a hospital in his early 20s, though he made his main character a high school student and added a love interest for him. Writers/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who worked on “Half Nelson” and “Sugar”) took on the task of adapting the story to film.
Keir Gilchrist, who plays the just out of the closet teenage son of Toni Collete and Jon Corbett on Showtime’s “United States of Tara” seems a lot less dysfunctional in his feature film than he does on his TV show. But that is part of the point of the movie.
Craig (Keir Gilchrist) is a typical high-achieving teenager. He goes to a prestigious charter school in New York. He has plenty of friends. He has his eyes set on a top summer program. But he is plagued by self doubt and throws up suddenly when he becomes stressed. More disturbing, he has been having recurring nightmares of jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge.
He hasn’t actually done anything to hurt himself when visits the emergency room of a local hospital in the middle of the night on the advice of a suicide hotline. The ER doctor, played by Aasif Mandvi (from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”) doesn’t think Craig is a harm to himself or others. He tries to send the teen home and suggests he go back on Zoloft, an anti depressant prescribed by Craig’s regular doctor. But Craig begs him to keep him in the hospital.
Craig, however, doesn’t understand exactly what he is asking. He is under the impression that he can spend the night in the hospital for a quick fix and then be back to school on Monday for class. But once he is put on a psychiatric hold, he has to stay a minimum of five days. He tells the psychiatrist (Viola Davis) that he feels fine and needs to go, but she tells him he should stay.
The hospital is also renovating the teen ward so the teenagers are mixed in with the adult population, which includes schizophrenics, major depressives and a collage of people with various mental illnesses.
Once he realizes he can’t just walk out, Craig begs his parents to take him back home. But his mother (played by Lauren Graham of “Gilmore Girls” and “Parenthood” fame) says she thinks it is a good idea for him to stay for a while.
On his first day on the ward, Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) takes him under his wing. Bobby’s time on the ward is almost up and he seems to be a leader among the group. He is quick to point out other’s illnesses to Craig but reluctant to talk about why he is in the mental hospital.
Through one-on-one counseling, group sessions and activities, Craig realizes that all the things he thinks are so important don’t really matter that much. He imagines if he doesn’t get into the summer program, that it will mean that he can’t get a good job or a nice house or a girlfriend later in life. It helps that Boden and Fleck created some fanciful scenes that allow the user to get inside Craig’s head to really understand the way his thoughts get in the way. One such scene includes Craig imagining how the summer program will affect the rest of his life in a quick montage from present to middle age.
But the time away from school allows him to contemplate for the first time that his pathway toward becoming a future leader may not be the only option. He also realizes that even though he has been pining for his best friend’s girlfriend for two years, there also might be someone else for him.
One of the other teens on the ward is Noelle (Emma Roberts.) She has scratches on her face and scars on her arms from cutting herself. Like Bobby, she seems to be the leader of the pack with the teens. But she doesn’t talk about the reasons she is in the hospital.
Keir Gilchrist does a good job of playing Craig as vulnerable, but an empathetic young man who is interested in making those around him happy despite his own depression. Though he is mixed up, he seems to realize that his problems are no where near as serious as Bobby’s or many of the other adults he meets. He also realizes that he needs to take the way he feels seriously or he might end up like them.
Zach Galifianakis is most well known for his comedic roles in movies such as “The Hangover” and “Dinner for Schmucks.” Here he is able to keep some of that humor, but as a grown man whose mental illness has alienated him from his wife and young daughter he brings a depth to the role. Bobby is a foil for Craig to see how things could turn out for him if he doesn’t work through his issues now.
