It’s always worrisome when someone has a big breakout role then all of a sudden starts showing up everywhere. With the success of The Hangover, I’ve been real afraid that Zach Galifianakis was going to succumb to overexposure and suffer the same fate of Will Ferrell. Fortunately, contrary to what the trailers might make you think, It’s Kind of a Funny Story isn’t a wacky comedy about the antics inside a mental hospital (which is a good thing) but more a light-hearted dark comedy/drama, and Galifianakis handles this somewhat serious role very well.
This isn’t to say that Galifianakis is the main character, because he’s not, but since he’s well-known he’s been sort of the face of the movie. The main character is, in fact, played by a relatively unknown actor by the name of Keir Gilchrist. He plays the role of Craig, a 16 year old going through the stresses of being a teenager in a top tier public prep school on top of being (at least mildly) clinically depressed. Craig has been having suicidal thoughts for a little while, and decides to check himself into the psychiatric ward at a hospital. He of course thinks it will just be an in-and-out kind of operation, but then finds out that there is a mandatory minimum of 5 days in the ward. Also, apparently the teen ward is being renovated so apparently the hospital sees no problem with putting teenage kids on the adult ward along with a whole cast of characters with various...issues. Gilchrist is sort of a poor man’s Justin Long, both in looks and acting style. There were points where I thought that they may as well have just gotten Justin Long for the part, but I don’t know if he can play a 16 year old anymore. Gilchrist does a good enough job though, and really settles more into the role as the the film moves on.
One concern about a movie like this, or any sort of comedy really, that takes place in a psychiatric ward is that there is that possibility of playing up the ‘crazy’ characters for cheap laughs. Fortunately this one avoids that pitfall and actually creates real characters out of the other people on the ward. Of course they have their funny moments, but more in an earnest way rather than a ‘look at the crazies!!’ way. Zach Galifianakis’s character, Bobby, is the most fleshed out of the characters, and I said, he plays his role perfectly. Light-hearted when it calls for it, and completely straight when dealing with his issues like being able to see his daughter while struggling with constantly being in and out of therapy dealing with his depression.
There were a couple things that bothered me about the movie, though. One was that the filmmakers tried to mimic Michel Gondry’s technique of putting in flashback moments and sort of surreal scenarios that are sort of hard to explain. Examples: a rooftop scene where suddenly the sky turns into a bright painting and text reading “Greetings from (insert hospital name)”; a flashback scene with Craig as a child learning how to draw, but instead of a younger actor it’s still full-grown Gilchrist in footie pajamas; animated sequences taking you through a tour of Craig’s drawings. It’s not that they don’t fit, but I just kind of wish they would have pushed these elements a bit further so that they more obviously contrast with the core of the movie, which they do well once with an incredibly well done and very memorable music video scene with the cast singing Queen’s “Under Pressure.”
The other thing that fell a little flat for me was Craig’s friends. They’re all complete assholes. This would be fine if you got some more development into maybe why they’re assholes or at least see that they used to be awesome but they’ve kind of grown into being assholes. Note: you do get this explanation with his best friend, Aaron, but it still doesn’t quite seem enough. One of the big reasons Craig gives for his depression is the fact that he’s been obsessed with his one friend Nia (who is now dating Aaron) for ages, but you never really get a back story of maybe how that happened or how they ended up hanging out a lot and him never making a move. This makes a scene where Nia shows up at the hospital and ruins his relationship with his new love interest, Noelle (played very well by Emma Roberts) seem like not much more than her showing up to ruin his new relationship rather than the culmination of years of tension as it’s supposed to.
Despite its very minor flaws, the film successfully addresses the issue of undiagnosed clinical depression in a way that isn’t condescending nor making light of the subject. It brings up a crucial point that someone can have a very loving family and a group of close friends but still suffer. It doesn’t wrap it up in a pretty bow at the end either which is nice, with Craig still having some work to do, but making progress at getting better, rather than being cured by his adventures in the psych ward. In the end, it’s a well-meaning, well-executed film; and while I didn’t realize it was based on a book until the end credits, it made me want to go out and buy the book, which I would say means it’s a success.
No comments:
Post a Comment