Review: IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY

Ever since the success of 2007’s Juno, Hollywood has been rapidly spitting out mainstream indie films in hopes of attracting the same praise. However, a pattern has appeared: only one film in the genre stands out each year. Last year it was 500 Days of Summer, a film that benefitted from its incessant commercial spots and likable stars. Attempting to follow in suit, will It’s Kind of a Funny Story garner similar praise?

It’s Kind of a Funny Story opens with 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist) biking to a New York City emergency room at five in the morning after waking up from a dream in which he commits suicide. The overwhelmed teen convinces the on-call doctor to help him out, thinking that a quick fix is available to him. However, he soon finds out that his stay in the third floor psychiatric ward will be a minimum of five days, setting him behind on schoolwork and tying him up in fibs to his friends. Though Craig feels out of place at first, he finds a confidant in Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), a love interest in Noelle (Emma Roberts), and a new appreciation for everything he has.

Every problem that I have with this film stems from its poorly written screenplay, which is essentially a mishmash of stale characters whose problems are given all-too-convenient resolutions. Craig comes off as a cliche, devoid of any unique traits that would at least make him a somewhat sympathetic character. In fact, all of the teenagers featured suffer from the same fate. Their dialog feels unnatural and makes clear to the audience that they are really actors playing teenagers who are trying so hard to be typical teenagers. With the exception of Bobby, who is allowed the chance to develop a distinct personality, the adults in the film are no better off than their younger co-stars. So much time is spent on these bland characters that the film’s central topic, depression, becomes a lighthearted afterthought and, in the end, gets treated like a fleeting speed bump standing in the way of a perfect life. If these elements would have been considered more thoroughly, It’s Kind of a Funny Story would have had a chance at being something fresh, but sadly, they were not.

Though I took issue with most of this 100 minute public service announcement, I cannot dislike it because it is just too nice. The mainstream indie style will have mass appeal, as will Galifianakis’s performance. My advice? See a matinee showing with your mom and little sister, but don’t be fooled: the story isn’t really as funny as you want it to be.

Rating: 2.5/5