It's a Kind of Funny Story

2010. Dir: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifiankis, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham and Viola Davis. 4/5



Auteur theory posits that the director is the primary author of a film and therefore the style reflects his or her personal creative vision. Following the theory to it's natural conclusions you can identify the director from the choices within the film and any film they make should be reviewed as part of an ongoing series of productions. I'm not sure whether Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck hold to the auteur theory, or even if they're output is consistent with it (you can check my review on Sugar using the labels below) however they're certainly willing to push the boundaries of the theory with their third feature It's a Kind of Funny Story.

Half Nelson tackled drug culture in public schools, Sugar was a baseball biopic in Spanish, so it's surprisingly been followed up with an adpatation of a young adult novel by Ned Vizzini about teenage mental health issues with shades of whimsy.



Keir Gilchrist stars as Craig, a confused high schooler with suicidal fantasies, who, having kicked his meds prematurely, opts to check into a mental health institution in order to get back on them. Unfortunately he then finds himself housed in the adult ward and he's committed (sorry) for a minumum of five day. During his stay he connects with the other patients including Zach Galifiankis's Bobby and self-harmer Noelle played by Emma Roberts.

Like Boden and Fleck's previous collaborations the dialogue feels real and observed rather than scripted, even the stylised ramblings of the patients and the gentle realism of Viola Davis's therapist has a geniuine feel to it. The growth of the relationship between Craig and Noelle particulary plays well with both of them feeling the limits of their capacity to be hurt in both playful and angered exchanges.

On a number of occasions this realism is memorably interrupted with flights of fantasy, including a hilarious opening dream scene and the music therapy sessions which segues into a glam rock concert version of Under Pressure with Gilchrist as Mercury and Galifiankis as Bowie. That scene alone is worth the ticket price alone.

Gilchrist himself isn't a very memorable lead, but that works well in context to his feelings of alienation and low self worth and with that in mind it's small wonder that Galifiankis (who doesn't do much we haven't seen before but he does it very well) and Roberts stand out with their respectively manic and understated presences.

It's difficult to review this film without questioning it's (and our own) attitudes to mental health issues. On the one hand Craig's short spell within the institution is not just long enough for him to reassess his life and reorganise his priorites - actually that makes sense - but he's also gifted with the ability to partially heal an agoraphobic roommate. On the other hand another patient, who confesses to Craig his seven suicide attempts, simply disappears from the film with all of his storylines unresolved; a painful reminder to Craig and to us that depression often does not just go away and that we can never really set about understanding what's in anyone else's thought process.

Overall I would say this film works, it doesn't pander to the preconceptions of it's primary audience and nor does it completely shy away from it's responsibilities. Sure it's no Cuckoo's Nest, but then it almost certainly didn't want to be, the institution isn't the villian here there is no villian. It's strength lies in the small things, and once again it's a reason to rejoice for Boden and Fleck. I can't wait to see what they work on next.