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Released by: Focus Features
Released on: 2/8/2011
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Cast: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
Based on a novel of the same name, It's Kind of a Funny Story tells the tale of teenager Craig (Keir Gilchrist) who wants to commit suicide and decides a jump off a bridge would do the trick. The kid is stressed out over a girl in school and his father's pressure to go to a prestigious summer school, and thinks the easy way out is the route to go, but he just can't bring himself to do it. So he goes to the emergency room to seek some help, hopefully some magic pill that will make him feel better, and gets a bit more than he bargained for. He's admitted to the hospital's psychiatric ward for a week, and that's where the story starts.
The ward population is pretty small, and he soon meets Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), a fellow occupant who sort of takes him under his wing to help him hook up with the a girl who self-mutilates named Noelle (Emma Roberts). Craig is quickly pulled out of his shell, discovers some hidden talents he has, finds what it is he is searching for, learns some valuable lessons along the way, and comes to the realization that he doesn't have it so bad after all. Especially compared to some of the other patients.
Yep, that's right: a feel good movie. But…it wasn't horrible. It was surprisingly entertaining.
Sure it's one of those flicks where everything comes out in the wash but it's done without sappiness or melodramatic themes that tend to plague these kinds of pictures. The story is told with narration, including freeze frame action a la Goodfellas, and there are some scenes where the viewer is treated to the inside workings of Craig's brain, which is all done with stylistic visuals, but nothing too absurd. It fits the feel of the story and adds to it far more than hinders it.
Keir Gilchrist does a great job carrying the movie as the lead. His character is likeable and easy to relate to. Lots of supporting players help the movie along and keep it interesting (Matthew Maher, Daniel London, and Jeremy Davies to name a few). And then there's Zach Galifianakis, who proves his worth as not just a funny guy, but a funny guy who can also act. His humor is what you might expect from an average person just going for a laugh here and there. He's much more subdued than in, say The Hangover. He is able to carry of his role with expertise and deliver a character that is angry, sarcastic, caring, and sad. He's got some problems but you really do feel for the guy.
Solid acting, interesting characters, and a nicely packaged film help to make this a good date movie. The filmmaker's attempt to make it a more interesting than the average movie of this genre is pretty successful. Not a horrible way to spend time with your honey.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film is presented here with a 1080p VC-1 transfer in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image is clear and detailed, and looking like it was filmed in HD rather than film, as its missing grain. Although a lot of the movie presents a clinical atmosphere, there are moments where bright colors come into play and result is pleasing to the eye. Deep black levels, no artifacts to be seen and skin tones look correct. An overall nice picture.
The audio here is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and at times sounds great. It's a heavy-on-the-talk picture, so a lot of the sound comes from the front, but there are music cues that sound great as well as a music number playing Queen's “Under Pressure†that fills the room. Proper levels seem present, and although the music does get loud in comparison to the dialogue it doesn't get annoying.
The extras are pretty thin. They are as follows: “Deleted Scenes†(8:54), “Outtakes†(11:28), “A Look Inside…†(3:17), and “…Premiere in New York†(2:32). The deleted scenes are fine, and the Outtakes are better than the usual (you know people laughing, quick cuts, music montage). Easily the best of the bonus features, beating out the latter two extras by a country mile.
The Final Word:
While not poised to bump anyone off of the “50 Best Date Movies of All Time†list, It's Kind of a Funny Story is an pretty painless watch to help you get in good with the significant other. It's simple little story told with creativity and helped along with good performances with a happy ending. The transfer looks and sounds above average while the extras don't help much to add value to the disc. If your looking to spend time on the couch and make some moves, it's worth putting on the rental list.
