Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's new film offers a refreshing break from the bleak oeuvre of movies about mental illness

By Crystal Erickson
Published: October 19th, 2010 | 5:00am

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), It’s Kind of a Funny Story is the adaptation of Ned Vizzini’s book of the same name, based on the author’s battle with depression as a teen. Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara) plays Craig, a 16-year-old that checks himself into a mental ward after going off Zoloft and becoming suicidal. With the youth ward temporarily closed, Craig is forced to stay in the adult ward. There he meets Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), a patient who forces the teen out of his shell.

Craig’s problems seem small in comparison to the adult patients staying in the ward, like his roommate Muqtada (Bernard White), who rarely gets out of bed, or Bobby, who may become homeless after leaving the ward. Craig’s breakdown is triggered by a looming deadline for a prestigious summer-school program that his workaholic dad (Jim Gaffigan) forces on him.

To make matters worse, his best friend Aaron (Thomas Mann) is smarter and better than Craig at everything, including winning over long-time crush Nia (Zoe Kravitz). Craig’s problems are typical of the pressure today’s teenagers face in life, growing up in a world filled unrealistic expectations, where mediocrity is simply not an option. (“It feels like everything’s just building up, and everyone else seems to just handle everything, you know? But not me, you know?”)

Over the course of his five day stay in the ward, Craig gets over his issues with help from Bobby and new crush Noelle (Emma Roberts). Bobby plays mentor to Craig, offering up dating advice and forcing a teen to start thinking for him self. (“Babe, you can’t live your life in fear. You’re gonna end up like Muqtada, or worse—me.”) Noelle encourages Craig to attend art class, where he discovers a passion for drawing maps.

During music class, the group encourages Craig to take lead vocals on a song they’d been working on—Queen and Bowie’s “Under Pressure,” which morphs into a enchanting concert scene starring all the patients, glittered up and glammed out like rock stars. The song beautifully conveys the pressure felt by all of the ward’s patients, to get over their problems and become the people they wish they were.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a refreshing break from the bleak films already made about mental illness, like Girl, Interrupted or Prozac Nation, which do little to demystify depression, instead ruminating on the horror of being mentally unstable. It’s Kind of a Funny Story takes a pragmatic look at the disease, proving that, even though depression is an inner struggle, with a little help, it too can pass.