Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Every once in a while a movie comes along with a title so perfect you can’t help but directly reference it. IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY actually is. It lives up to its name. It’s nothing inordinately special, but at the same time it is delightful, sweet and deliberately saccharine in all the ways you want this kind of mainstream-indie to be.
Is it your typical, garden variety example of the I’m okay, you’re okay touchy feely teen comedy? Sure it is. It just happens to be a fairly funny example of the I’m okay, you’re okay touchy feely teen comedy. And your reaction to the film will certainly depend on how you feel about films involving the mentally ill. If you don’t mind spending some time in a fantasy world in which the troubled folk sometimes only need to see the world from a different point of view; where no one spending time in a city hospital mental ward poses any real threat to you; where schizophrenia can be funny and severe depression linked to agoraphobia can be cured with the right record album – then you can kick back and enjoy the smooth comedy stylings of a talented cast set in that universe. If however, you find that concept offensive, then this film will only serve to piss you off. Because this exists in an indie fantasy world.
You’ve seen this movie a dozen times over by now. Built upon the idea that we’re really all fucked up and that while each day is a challenge, one need only look around them, open their eyes to the wonder of the world, and learn to love themselves for who they are to achieve happiness. It’s pretty common sense stuff, but the kind of thing folks like to be reminded of. And this does a great job of that. I was fortunate enough to see this after sitting down with a stack of the darkest, blackest, and most nihilistic of fantastic fest screeners (KIDNAPPED, CARANCHO and BEDEVILLED for those of you playing along with the home game), weighed down by a deep, brooding melancholy. IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY functioned as a cinematic high colonic, washing away my mood and brightening up my day in ways I can barely describe. It is just a good, old fashioned, innocent comedy that means well, despite its eagerness to ignore the real problems inherent in mental illness.
The film is about Craig (Kier Gilchrist), one of this generations over-scheduled, over-achievers whose family has pushed him to the point that he’s cracking under the pressure to succeed at things he’s not even interested in. When that pressure drives him to think constantly about suicide, he checks himself into the hospital for a talk and an overnight stay…only to discover that the city hospital requires a mandatory 5 day observation period for all checked in patients. That’s when he finds him locked in with the truly sick to illustrate over the course of the film just how not-sick he really is.
Of course the main draw here is Zach Galifianakis who most, by now, have forgotten has had a long and storied career as a subdued, cutting edge standup comedian. This isn’t Galifianakis doing his man-child routine for which he is rapidly becoming famous; this is the kind of thing that marries both a real performance (not unlike the kind we’ve seen from Robin Williams in this kind of role over the years) and the style of comedy you find in his BETWEEN TWO FERNS. He’s very funny and serves both as a great foil and spiritual guide for Craig. But what makes this work is that it is an ensemble comedy. Gilchrist himself nails playing a very capable straight man not only Galifianakis, but for the “insanity” around him. Matthew Maher, Daniel London, and LOST’s Jeremy Davies (the man who should be awarded every Jeff Goldblum style scientist role available from this moment forward) all turn in very funny performances, and Emma Roberts continues to proudly carry on her families genetic dominance as the beautiful but clearly disturbed love interest. (Pro-tip: don’t date women you meet in mental institutions. Just trust me on this one.)
The film is a crowd pleaser. There are a lot of great laughs and some really solid sequences that tickled me in all the right ways. I walked into this thing feeling pretty rotten about the world and walked out light and happy. You can’t really ask much more of this kind of film. It’s not aiming particularly high, but it hits everything it is aiming at. I liked it quite a bit and can definitely recommend it to folks that enjoy this sort of thing.
Until next time friends,
Massawyrm
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