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.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
It's a Kind of Funny Story
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Sugar
2008. Dir: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring: Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Andre Holland, Anne Whitney and Ellary Porterfield. ●●●●○
Sports movies are quite difficult to get right. There is a risk that it will be pitched (excuse me) to the fans of the sport only, and that the movie will feel impenetrable to the viewers who are not familiar with the game. Suger opens in a Baseball training camp in the Dominican Republic where we are introduced to our hero Miguel "Sugar" Santos (Soto). Immediately I was afraid that this would not be the movie for me, the credits had hardly begun when they were taliking about fly curves etc. However within a couple of scenes you realise there is an eqilibrium, Baseball is merely the front for this interesting tale about a man following a path that may not be right or best for him, but following it because he has no choice.
During a weekend off from training Sugar returns to his poverty stricken family, immediatley we are aware that the only way out is through baseball, and that his family have begun to see Sugar as their meal ticket. Listen to the conversations between him and his mother throughout the film. Her first question to him is nearly always the same, until the last time when it is clear she has someone else on her mind.
Sugar is selected by Kansas City to join their summer camp, and from there to join their affiliated AAA league team in Indiana. Along the way we see many of his friends fall by the wayside, due to injury or just not coming up to the high standards required (both on and off the diamond). To the credit of writer-directors Boden and Fleck we never feel like the points being made in the section are laboured. The differences between the American college educated players and the Dominican boys are deftly drawn, the sense of being a product for the team is hinted at but wisely not addressed head on and the shifting emotions of Sugar as he deals with early success, injury and jealousy of the other players is deftly handled.
Only the performance enhancing drugs scene comes off as cliched, especially in the way it's filmed.
In the final act the film goes off in a completed unexpected way, unexpected for the audience as much as it is for most of the characters. There have been some debates on whether this works, however I feel it's true the the character and his journey in a way that the alternative would not be.
Most of the players, including Sugar and his mentor Jorge Ramirez (Rufino) are non-professional actors, but the performances hold up well. Both of these two could have careers if they tried and I would especially like to see Rufino try his hand at more acting work.
Technically the film is well put together, the highlight being the location work, where the building and locales used for each scene seem to fit the story at that point.
Overall this is a fine film, well made, that skillfully avoids the pitfalls that other Baseball movies may present, whilst giving us a real insight into the way professional overseas players are groomed and used by the major teams.
