Saturday, October 9, 2010

It's Kind of a Funny Story

“So Justin what movie did you see this weekend?”

“It’s Kind of a Funny Story.”

“Really? What happened?”

“No, that’s the name of the movie.”

“Really? It’s Kind of a Funny Story?”

“Yeah.”

“And how was it?”

“It was kind of a funny story.”

So some people have never even heard of this movie.  I had seen previews for it and it looked interesting enough to see.  You can check out the preview hereThe movie is about a 16-year-old boy named Craig(Keir Gilchrist) who is suicidal.  He calls a suicide hotline number and decides to check himself into a psychiatric hospital.  The teenager’s ward is closed, so he is admitted into the adult psychiatric ward.  It takes him about five minutes for him to realize that he is not suicidal anymore and wants to get out.  However he is committed to stay for at least five days.

Through the movie we follow Craig’s story and explore the issues of depression.  However, it is difficult to have a movie about depression when Zach Galifianakis is involved.  Galifianakis (The Hangover, Dinner for Schmucks) plays Bobby, a patient of the psychiatric ward.  Bobby is nice to Craig and they develop an interesting friendship in the movie.  Bobby treats Craig with respect, but explains to Craig that he has no idea why he is suicidal.  To Bobby, Craig has a good life and should never be in a psychiatric ward.  Craig asks Bobby throughout the movie why he is in the psychiatric ward, but Bobby doesn’t reveal the truth until the end of the movie.
Craig develops a love interest for Noelle (Emma Roberts).  Noelle is a cutter who has gone through some serious stuff in her life.  They begin to fall for each other, but then, of course, there is some drama that gets in the way of their little love fling.

The acting is great.  Zach Galifianakis does not play the dorky type as he does in most movies.  He takes this role seriously and you develop a lot of sympathy for his character.  Gichrist and Roberts are great too.  It’s hard for child actors to play these kinds of roles.  Somehow, these two lovebirds pull it off though. 


I’d definitely put this movie in my top six movies of the year.  (Top six movies? Is this guy crazy? He has a list of top six movies?)  I have already had people ask me if it was hilarious.  No, it wasn’t hilarious.  I laughed a lot, but it’s what I will call a “deep comedy.”  They make the movie funny to keep your interest, but I wouldn’t classify this movie as a “comedy comedy.”  I don’t think this movie will make a ton of money at the box-office, but it’s worth seeing.   If you have ever dealt with depression, or know someone who has dealt with depression, it’d be worth your time and money.  I really liked it.  I liked it more than I thought I would.  It feels long at some points, but a movie based on depression is probably not supposed to be a fast-paced thriller. 

So if you are sitting at home reading this, you probably have time to go see a movie.  I vote you go see this one.  

3 comments:

  1. wanna hear a funny story? you were in my dream last night. plus i kinda wanna see this movie now...

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  2. I would never have even thought of seeing this without reading your review....and now...I'm definitely gonna! Thanks!

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  3. This movie was so so so good. Ya...it had some stupid inappropriate parts, but overall the movie just really left us feeling so touched. Best movie I have seen in a long long time. But I'm not sure that everyone will relate to it exactly the same way.....still, worth seeing for sure!

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