it has always been my belief that stand up comics can make great dramatic actors if they are given the chance to play characters that tap into the stand up comedians inherent issues, because all comics have issues. Zach Galifinakis is what one might call an "it" guy in comedy right now. he has tremendous heat from The Hangover, he has great on-line buzz with his weirdly perfect mock talk show Between two Ferns and Due Date is one of the most buzzworthy movies of the upcoming fall. He has comedy in his clutches, so what better way to try and expand than a comedy with some serious tints to it. And what better way to make that happen than playing a man in a psych ward of a hospital. It honestly felt like the best possible career move for a guy with as unlikely a career as Mr. Galifinakis.
Stressed out from a life that is far more complicated than it should be for a teenager, Craig(Keir Gilchrist) starts to have suicidal dreams. What is more is he wants to kill himself. He chickens out and rides his bike to the hospital instead. He thinks he can just be given a quick pill or something and be on his way, but he talks himself into getting committed to the psych ward. Craig is not sure how he is going to last five days in the hospital because he needs to get to school, but he is told he has to be there a minimum of 5 days. His family is as supportive as possible and he finds support from the outside in the form of his best friend's girlfriend. But, mostly he has to just live with the people in the hospital. He meets a damaged, but adorable girl, Noelle(Emma Roberts) and a few other eccentric patients, but he forges his closest bond with Bobby(Galifinakis). Bobby is a very depressed man who sees no real way out for himself, but in their talks, he helps shape Craig and helps Craig to try and work through his issues. The main issues for Craig are feelings of not being good enough. He is constantly stressed about school because his father puts pressure on him and Craig never relaxes. He believes he is a loser. Through art, music and just learning to relax, the psych ward helps Craig to realize what is and what is not important.
Told with a nice blend of sweetness, humor and a certain level of crazy, It's kind of a Funny Story is a nice movie with a more interesting movie somewhere inside of it. As far as psych ward movies go, it is by far the most tame and far too calm to elicit any hardcore reaction, but it is a genuinely sweet, moving picture with depth of character and it has some great laughs and the message is wonderful. I think I just hoped it would get just a bit darker, or delve just a bit deeper into the twisted side of the characters. it comes off as just a bit too safe, like it was trying hard to not offend any one's sensibilities. I do not inherently think a PG-13 movie has to be safe (See The Social Network), but this one is hindered by the rating, or it hindered itself to get the rating.
That being said, Galifinakis is remarkable. He is hilarious, twisted, and unafraid to let himself "go there." Bobby tries so hard to come off as a guy okay with his crazy, but the more we learn and the longer we see Bobby on the screen, the more we realize, this is a deeply tortured man. His breakdown is beautifully raw and Galifinakis goes all in. His chemistry with Gilchrist works throughout the whole picture and you really believe Bobby wants to help someone else because he believes he is beyond the ability to help himself. For his part, Gilchrist plays the tortured teenager pretty well. I wish he had a bit more chemistry with Zoe Kravitz who played the seriously sexy girlfriend of the best friend, but he and Emma Roberts are totally charming together in some tortured way. Roberts is probably a star in the making and she is very winning as Noelle. We never do find out what she is so tortured over, but it kind of makes their relationship feel more real, more tangible.
The film utilizes a few nice tricks, such as animation and dream sequences, most of which are pretty effective. In the scene where Craig has to sing lead during music time, the entire scene becomes a wonderfully charming and funny rock show with Craig singing. The song choice, Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" is what you would call "too on the nose" but it is done in such a fun way it avoids being an eye roll moment. During art time, Craig creates these complex and gorgeous brain maps. It relaxes him completely and they show the art being drawn as animation and it is effective as it gives us an idea of how Craig sees the world. He narrates sections of the movie and at times flashes back at moments that led him to this very moment. These sort of narrative tricks, or gimmicks can be obnoxious, but in this film they mostly work. A few of the flashbacks did nothing for me and honestly, anytime the film jumped to his out of the psych ward friends, I lost all interest.
Even though It's Kind of a Funny Story is too safe to be totally effective, it is definitely worth viewing. Galifinakis is the most unlikely Hollywood star, but he is making all of the right moves and in this movie he exudes a sort of Robin Williams in The Fisher King persona. He does not have to completely lose his Galifinakisness, but he stretches himself and makes the movie more than it would have been, I think. The overly tame, or white-washing of the psych ward in undoubtedly rub people the wrong way, as it did me, but there is enough in the cast to make the movie good.
Final Grade: C+
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