It's Kind of a Funny Story

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.

The Fighter

The Fighter is a compelling sport story. Micky (Wahlberg) is a struggling boxer working with his controlling mother who, like Micky,seems totally enthralled by Micky's older half-brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky was, himself, a mediocre boxer with a controversial moment of glory in the ring, but he has now become a crack addict working toward a "comeback" even though he can barely manage to train his adoring brother. The family is supremely broken. The mother, Alice (Leo) spends her days surrounded by the loud and smokey haze of her daughters. Her current husband, George, seems to be the only thing solid to hold the family together, but just getting by exhausts about all of his ability to affect the group. When Micky meets a tough barmaid (Adams), he finally has a window to the outside of his family and she pushes him to pursue a professional training opportunity, thus driving a wedge into the already dysfunctional family.

Watching the movie, I was very wrapped up in the story of it all. Dicky's character is really interesting through his complete lack of focus or connection to reality. The leading man himself, however, is little more than a prop--just the product of a family that wanted to love him but just didn't have the space. His girlfriend and father help Micky push back against the destructive forces of his mother and brother, but even so, Micky's resistance is just a product of him allowing himself to be pushed around by another influence. He lacks conviction and will, which are, surprisingly, the characteristics present to a fault in his mother, and developed as a strength in Dicky. Both these characters show an incredible range in the picture. It gives the picture a genuine touch of character--characters who can seem to be one way, and yet possess very contrary traits at a deeper level though neither seems contrived. They seem shaped by circumstance and routine into versions of themselves that they once weren't, but only rarely do their lost-qualities emerge from suffocation.

The film has this really gritty look. It's one of those movies that gets called a "film" because it's polished for how rough it seems. I don't say that to diminish the legitimacy of The Fighter, just to point out that the choice is a bit self-conscious. It does, however, fit the subject matter. Glossy cinematography would have been much more out of place, but this attention to aesthetics still caught my eye as over-worked, even if it did suit the setting.

I did love watching this film. I has that magical formula: make you depressed to turn around and leave you feeling uplifted. This isn't a sad child of single mother rising to Olympic hockey champion with help from a reluctant coach. The fall is greater and the rise is smaller, but it's just as big a turn-around. A messed up family tries to do the best they can to make it while one member tries to do something bigger than the small town. Micky doesn't turn out to be the best fighter who then earns enough money to buy each of his family members a home in a big city where they can still sit down for dinner on Sunday nights. He just possesses the tenacity and training to take enough punches to tire out an opponent while saving enough strength to land a big blow when it counts. He has luck and strategy, but his and his family's small victories are closer to home. I don't think I'm more likely to battle a crack addiction or take up boxing than I am to lead my hockey team to an Olympic victory, but the plot focuses more on relationships than athletic accomplishments, and that makes it accessible and enjoyable.