Rating:  

Wayfare Entertainment, Misher Films, Journeyman Pictures, Gowanus Projections and Focus Features.

Written by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, adapted from the novel “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini.

A distraught 16-year old boy, Craig (Keir Gilchrist), commits himself to a psychiatric facility when his depression seems and feels insurmountable. Once admitted, he meets a diverse and unique assortment of patients and immediately connects with Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), a mid-30′s patient who becomes something of a mentor to Craig. Good, solid premise. Spiking in some nice casting choices involving Oscar-nominee Viola Davis (“Doubt”), veteran TV actress Lauren Graham (“The Gilmore Girls”, “Parenthood”), and quirky character actor Jeremy Davies (“Lost”), “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story” is a surprisingly earnest and heartfelt film we can all take a little something from.

Or…well…it should be that movie.

But the funny thing is – it’s kind of not a funny story or all that great of one either. In hindsight, I may have stumbled onto a movie which has all the right ingredients on hand to feed us something really impressive. And yet, in its final form, the movie never congeals or comes together in any palatable way.

Written and directed by the impressive duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Half Nelson”, “Sugar”), with this their third feature together, “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story” starts off with an independent sensibility that strives to set it apart from other films set in a mental ward. Craig is deeply depressed and confused as to why. He has a doting mother (Graham), a workaholic and distant father (Jim Gaffigan), and genius younger sister (Dana DeVestern). Like most adolescents, he is trying to figure life out and life is constantly changing the questions when he figures out the answers. Feeling like he stands on the cusp of ending his life, Craig, on a Sunday morning around 5 a.m., voluntarily commits himself to the nearest psychiatric hospital.

Craig is checked in and placed in a room with Moqtada, an extremely depressed older man who is rumored to have never left his room since being first admitted. When Craig questions being placed with an adult, we learn that the youth ward is undergoing extensive renovations and as a result, all the teenage patients are being placed with the adults. Soon we see that this particular hospital is housed with assembly line movie mental patients, and you know the type. The strange man who rants and raves about nothing in particular, the lower IQ’d but warm tempered good guy, the patient who sits in solitude, the conspiracy theorist, the patient with a temper, etc. Amidst it all, Craig soon realizes, naturally, that he has made a mistake, feels better, and should probably return home. Advised of a 5-day minimum stay rule, Craig settles in and tries to make the best of his new surroundings.

Making things a bit easier are two patients, Bobby and Noelle (Emma Roberts). Bobby presents rather well-adjusted and perhaps skews on the eccentric side. Noelle, who is seemingly the only other teenager living in the hospital, is a natural attraction for Craig and she reciprocates a bit of a crush as well. Very quickly, the dangers, fears, and anxieties that cripple Craig in the outside world are absent and life seems comfortable and acceptable in Craig’s new controlled environment.

But not for us watching all of this transpire. Boden and Fleck give us a day-by-day breakdown of Craig’s stay at the facility and unfortunately, as entertaining as this movie may seem to be on its surface, it really is unoriginal and uninspired. What is most frustrating about this endeavor is that the main performances are strong and there are moments that will warm your heart and make you smile. However, Fleck and Boden make a surprising misstep of recycling the same tired gags and deficient tactics that mental health films not named “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” can seldom seem to avoid.

Arguably, I may have set my bar high based on Boden and Fleck’s two previous films. Like “Half Nelson” and “Sugar” before this, Boden and Fleck have crafted a screenplay which delves behind the eyes of the youth. And who better to write Craig then these two, right? The issues are again not with the performances but with a laziness in the screenplay. After awhile, you run out of laughs for the patients in the psychiatric hospital. Moments between Craig and his counselor, Dr. Minerva, (Davis) seem forced and offer nothing that we have not discerned ourselves. Boden and Fleck also utilize the approach of having Craig narrate the events surrounding his stay, mixing and mashing up animated sequences, quick jump-cut cutaways, and visual puns which attempt to make the film distinctive and unique. Instead, the film loses its rhythm and at times tries too hard to convey its message. When Craig connects with Noelle late in the film and they share a love of Radiohead and Vampire Weekend, a handful of folks in attendance groaned at the obvious hipster slant the film was angling for.

Ultimately, we have a heartfelt message film that folks will love, like, and tolerate as equally as others will tear it apart. Lacking anything new and fresh in the “mental health” movie genre, “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story” is a peculiar and intriguing misstep that disappoints for what it could have and should have been. Maybe like Craig, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck just overthought things a bit too much.

Should I See It?

YES

Fans of “Half Nelson” and “Sugar” will be drawn to see the third film from the acclaimed filmmaking duo.

Zach Galifianakis continues his career trajectory with a different kind of dramatic role. Where Galifianakis’ career may end up, I don’t know, but here he shows that in spite of some middling material, he has some really strong acting chops.

Quirky, independent fare will always draw an audience, as will a comedy/drama built around a charismatic teenage actor.

Easily watchable at home, I can see some looking past the film’s flaws and watching the movie over and over again.

NO

You’ve seen this film before and know where it is going as soon as the basic premise is put on screen. While engaging to a certain extent, this is rather forgettable the moment the credits begin.

Curious as to how the depiction of mental patients will play out. The film is not disparaging per se, but it sure gets tiring and eyebrow raising when the same gags are recycled time and time again with mentally ill characters.

Quirky and independent films are nothing you ever have a desire to watch, no matter who may be attached.

At times this feels like several different movies at once, with its hyperactive jump cuts, narration, and comedy, romance, and drama.