Grade: B
People like John Hughes’ films because of the plot; people care about John Hughes’ films because of the characters, and it’s for reasons similar to this that “Its Kind of a Funny Story,” in putting its own updated spin on the teen-movie standard, is able to work so much better than it should.
John Hughes’ films were hardly original in terms of their stories, whether it was following a group of kids stuck in detention on a Saturday or three friends who decided to ditch class for a day. These aren’t original stories, but the reason they endure is because each of the characters, from Ferris Bueller and Kevin from “Home Alone” to Uncle Buck or Booger and Samantha from “Sixteen Candles,” strikes a nerve about what it means to be young in everyone from high school students to those students’ grandparents.
In “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, adapting the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini, have aimed to embody the themes that made Hughes’ films so timeless for all ages, and for the most part they succeeded, creating at least one character in the process that could very well rank alongside some of Hughes’ best.
The film follows the story of Craig as played by Keir Gilchrist, a relative newcomer in the industry, who, after a rough week of school trouble, family trouble and the ever-apparent girl trouble, convinces himself that he’s suicidal and needs immediate medical attention. Craig checks in Sunday morning to his local hospital and, after a quick bout of negotiation, Craig is admitted in the mental ward and stuck there for the next five days.
That’s it for the story. Like Hughes’ works, the film is pretty spare in actual plot development. Rather, the strength of the film lies in watching who Craig becomes over the course of his five days at the hospital and what he learns about himself. The strength is watching Craig develop a sense of attachment to the characters he meets along the way.
There are a lot of people we meet along the way with Craig, many passable if not memorable extensions of the usual mental-patient stereotypes. Craig’s friends outside of the hospital act as typical 17-year-old New York teens often do in these sorts of movies, existing more to develop Craig’s character than anything else. But amidst the disposable, there’s Bobby.
Bobby, Craig’s sometimes-mentor, is played with immense talent by Zach Galifianakis, and it makes you wonder why no one ever thought to cast him in a drama before. Galifianakis infuses Bobby with such complexity that he grounds the story in the reality it so desperately needs in order to succeed.
At first you don’t really know what to make of Bobby, played much more quietly than we’re used to seeing from Galifianakis. Slowly though, Bobby comes out of his shell, and in doing so creates an outstanding character. Sad, angry, sick, confused and, yes, very funny, Galifianakis transforms himself into a 21st century Randle P. McMurphy that viewers of all ages will be able to see a little bit of themselves in.
While its easy to give Galifianakis credit for the film’s showy successes, I’d be remiss if I didn’t stress the skill co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are able to demonstrate throughout the entire film. There’s a sense of wonder to the proceedings. From creating worlds within the hospital as diverse as a computer-generated trip through Craig’s artistic processes, to orchestrating a climactic sing-along number set to a so-completely-it-totally-works song that you can’t help but be won over by the film’s unending charms.
Boden and Fleck are actor’s directors, and there’s not a bad role in the bunch, even when stacked up against Galifianakis’ powerhouse performance. Gilchrist is fine as the everyman character, but it’s Emma Roberts who surprises in the best way possible. Roberts, of Nickelodeon’s “Unfabulous” and now trying to break out, gives her Noelle the necessary vulnerability for a teen girl locked in a mental hospital without any of the baggage you’d expect from a character of her type. Cameos by Jim Gaffigan and Lauren Graham as Craig’s parents make for some additional laughs along the way.
“It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is not out to change the world, and without the combined skills of Boden, Fleck and Galifianakis, one worries about what the film could have devolved into very quickly. Luckily, it’s their unified charms that save the film and give it at times a fighting chance at joining the great teen-movies of yesteryear.
Contact the reporter at vburnton@asu.edu
- Related: Q and A: It’s Kind of a Funny Story
