“Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream.” –Hugh Hefner
Getting used to Funny Story took a while for me. To start with, this film takes place in a hospital mental ward that’s seemingly run by the patients. Doctors, nurses and orderlies are extremely scarce and security is appallingly lax. We’re told that the teen mental patients have been moved to the adult ward while the teen ward is under renovation, though overcrowding seems to be a non-issue. In fact, with one exception, the patients in the teen ward are completely absent from the movie. Perhaps most notably, the severity of such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and suicidal depression is watered down for the sake of keeping with the film’s lighthearted and comedic tone.
It’s all a lot of disbelief to suspend. The very concept of a comedy set in a mental ward may be enough to turn quite a few people away. Fortunately, those who are able to accept the movie on its own terms will be pleasantly rewarded for the effort.
This is the story of Craig, who checks himself into a mental ward because he feels depressed and suicidal. Though he does have a history of Zoloft use, a socially awkward disposition and some rather strange physical symptoms (two words: Stress vomiting), it’s clear from the start that suicidal depression isn’t really the problem. The truth is something much simpler and yet more complex: He’s a teenager.
Craig is sixteen, with the standard anxieties of girl troubles, jealousy of close friends and family issues. He’s also in a prestigious school, surrounded by peers who are all smarter and more successful than he is (or so he thinks). Basically put, he’s at just the time and place in his life when he thinks that if he doesn’t succeed at certain tests and applications, then his life is ruined. To him, the future is either in the White House or in poverty, with absolutely no middle ground. He has no idea of what life after high school is really like, nor does he realize how well-off and smart he is. He needs perspective, he needs self-confidence and he finds both by spending a few days with people who aren’t simply confused and uncertain, but legitimately poor, crazy and worse off than Craig ever was.
The movie’s central conceit is that feeling depressed about life isn’t necessarily something to be treated. It isn’t even a bad thing or something to be ashamed of. It could be just part of life. We’ve gotten so caught up in medications and mental diagnoses that maybe we’ve forgotten how being a little bit afraid about the future is simply part of being human. Moreover, failing to achieve the arbitrary goals set by others is a lousy reason to feel inferior. To quote another movie that dealt with quite similar themes,”do what you love, and fuck the rest.”
Given this premise, it should come as no surprise that the movie does have its shallow traits. No less than twice in this film, Craig swears up and down that he can’t do something only to totally master it in one try, so the film obviously has a transparent “wish fulfillment” aspect. Also, Craig’s development can get quite predictable and formulaic at times. On the other hand, this movie does have a lot of heart and the characters are all treated with respect. Writer/Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck really do make an effort to show the trauma of genuine mental illness while simultaneously keeping the film light and they do a decent job, all told.
The cast is uniformly outstanding, with surprising amounts of talent packed into the smallest roles. Keir Gilchrist wonderfully sells all of Craig’s many internal conflicts, delivering a character who’s uncertain in all things. Craig’s development is the story’s soul and Gilchrist makes it work. He also shows great chemistry with Emma Roberts, who turns in a staggering performance as Craig’s love interest. Noelle is beautiful, but not Hollywood-level hot. Her charm and wit is abundant, but tempered with shyness and no small amount of venom. Also, I don’t know whose idea it was to make cut marks part of her makeup, but that was a brilliant touch. Those marks bring a lot of past trauma to the character and Roberts weaves it into her act like a pro.
Further props to Zach Galifianakis. He found a lot of well-earned success with The Hangover, though I’ve found it a shame that he’s pretty much been playing Alan Garner ever since. Not here. In this movie, Galifianakis takes the unpredictability, para-logical sensibilities and enormous heart of Alan, then parlays them into Craig’s enigmatic, intelligent and heavily nuanced mentor. Bobby is a character who’s tragic and comedic in equal measure and I found it amazing to watch Galifianakis play that so effectively. I’ll grant that Bobby does come off as a bit too sane to be in a mental ward, but his exact condition is never fully disclosed. It’s left open to interpretation just what Bobby is doing there or how bad his condition is — if any — and I’m glad to say that Galifianakis sells that.
Aasif Mandvi appears briefly as a doctor and he makes the most of what screen time he’s got. The Daily Show reporter isn’t given anything overly funny to do, and I know I’ve said that’s a huge faux pas, but his character here is very intelligent and sympathetic. I found that to be very refreshing, mostly because it runs totally counter to his act with Jon Stewart. Another surprise actor to be found here is Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet. She’s very beautiful and she does a fine job as Craig’s unattainable crush (every guy has one). There are so many scenes in which Nia is out of Craig’s league and within his reach all at once and Kravitz does a great job of getting that contradiction to make sense.
At least a third of this movie is seen through Craig’s interpretation of reality, and it’s all to wonderful effect. There’s one scene in which Craig takes a call from Nia, picturing her in a giant luxurious bubble bath, since why not? The film also has a few flashbacks with several embellishments from our protagonist, most notably while five-year-old Craig is being played by sixteen-year-old Craig.
Unfortunately, the pacing is bogged down a few times. This is particularly obvious during the last fifteen minutes, in which the movie just ends and ends and ends. My favorite example, however, is the scene in which Craig leads the other patients in a loose rendition of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” as part of a creative musical therapy session. The scene transitions to Craig’s imagination, depicting him and his friends as neon-colored, overdressed rock stars in heavy makeup. The scene is hilarious, but it serves no purpose to the story and effectively grinds the movie to a halt for a few minutes.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story requires a lot of concessions from its audience. It takes a lot of willful ignorance to get past the implausibilities, the pacing issues and the notion of using mentally damaged people as comic material. Personally, when I was finally able to adjust to this movie’s sensibilities, I found it very enjoyable. This is a solid — if somewhat predictable — coming of age story, told with heart and humor aplenty. The actors and dialogue make every character sympathetic and the visuals greatly add to the comedy. It’s an all-around solidly made film, well worth checking out.