It's Kind of a Funny Story is about a boy who checks himself into a mental ward because he's feeling suicidal. He probably isn't the kind of person who would actually go through with it--he's just a depressed teenager with a lot of pressure from his parents. He's upset to find out that the hospital not only commits him for an entire school week, but that, due to renovations, the teenagers are temporarily being held on the adult psychiatric ward. After encountering a few of his fellow patients he realizes that he might not be as messed up as he thought, but there's not much he can do about it by that point except to flirt with the pretty teenage girl on the ward and hope his school doesn't find out where he is.
Mostly, this movie tells a simple, predictable story. The boy, Craig, feels overly-stressed out by his father. Upon witnessing some of their interactions it becomes easy to see why. He likes his best friend's girlfriend, who, of course, finds Craig much more attractive once his "mental problems" become common knowledge and he's temporarily the rock star of the high school--a school for high-performing students who probably all have fathers like Craig's.
All I can really say is, it's kind of a funny story. The movie takes on serious subject matter with an air of irony and humor without poking fun. The jokes are reserved, so you never laugh, but it's still vaguely comical. The funny things are sort of serious, and the serious things are kind of funny, so you just kind of sit there and watch it unfold without knowing what to do about it. The memorable part of this movie is an unexpected musical number. The defining characteristic of a musical is the ability to use a song to convey an enormous amount of story or emotional weight in a short amount of time by evoking the audience's suspension of disbelief. You know, in a musical characters meet, exchange introductions, sing a song, and all of a sudden it seems completely conceivable that they're in love--no questions asked. Here, the song comes out of nowhere, but is used much to the same end. Craig sings about his problem and the audience sees him acknowledge his problem, let out his feelings about it, move on with his life, and bond with the other patients, all with the help of music and some really out-there costuming.
Honestly, the movie could have been 15-20 minutes of set up, the song, and a monologue to wrap things up, and I probably would have liked it more, but the rest of the movie does have some colorful characters and interesting moments. Just like it's title, it's unapologetically mediocre, but tips toward the positive.
All I can really say is, it's kind of a funny story. The movie takes on serious subject matter with an air of irony and humor without poking fun. The jokes are reserved, so you never laugh, but it's still vaguely comical. The funny things are sort of serious, and the serious things are kind of funny, so you just kind of sit there and watch it unfold without knowing what to do about it. The memorable part of this movie is an unexpected musical number. The defining characteristic of a musical is the ability to use a song to convey an enormous amount of story or emotional weight in a short amount of time by evoking the audience's suspension of disbelief. You know, in a musical characters meet, exchange introductions, sing a song, and all of a sudden it seems completely conceivable that they're in love--no questions asked. Here, the song comes out of nowhere, but is used much to the same end. Craig sings about his problem and the audience sees him acknowledge his problem, let out his feelings about it, move on with his life, and bond with the other patients, all with the help of music and some really out-there costuming.
Honestly, the movie could have been 15-20 minutes of set up, the song, and a monologue to wrap things up, and I probably would have liked it more, but the rest of the movie does have some colorful characters and interesting moments. Just like it's title, it's unapologetically mediocre, but tips toward the positive.
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