With just the right blend of comedy and drama, It’s Kind of  a Funny Story avoids a lot of the pitfalls  lesser movies on the topic fall into while delivering a film that has something to say without the typical Hollywood cliches.

Based on the book by Ned Vizzini, the film tells the story of a suicidal 16 year old named Craig (Keir Gilchrist) who decides to check himself into the hospital. The admitting doctor tries to dissuade him but Craig is determined that he needs to stay and stay he does. After about an hour and a half of his time in the adult psychiatric ward (because the kids ward is being renovated) he realizes that he does not belong. Unfortunately, his admission carries a minimum of five days and his parents (Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan) think his being there is a good idea.  During his time there he bonds with the other patients particularly Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) who sees a bit of himself in Craig.

From the plot description it sounds a lot like one of the saccharine and overly sentimental films that deal with mental illness as something you just get over  if you have someone push you down the hallway in a wheelchair at top speed or break out and do fun and hip things on the streets. So often in movies people are better just by having fun and everyone in the psychiatric ward are just lovable goofballs waiting for the protagonist to show up so they can all just be normal and quirky again after learning valuable life lessons. This is not one of those.

There are some cliches and conventions here but for the most part the story is very honest about life in a mental hospital and what it is like to have something like generalized depression and to be depressed when everyone tells you your life is too sweet for that. There is no magic cure here and the characters feel very real and authentic  top to bottom. The film recognizes that there is no real magic cure for many of these disorders but they can be managed and lived with given the right skills and support.

A good example is Galifianakis’s Bobby. He seems like the sort of typical funny mental patient who takes Craig under his wing to help him see how great things really are but as the story progresses you start to see why Bobby is there. The movie doesn’t go over the top with this but they don’t shy away from it either. This is a man broken and hurt and he tries to reach out to a young man who’s issues he recognizes. He does try to help Craig see himself for what he is and to realize that things aren’t so bad but he recognizes that Craig isn’t just a rich kid looking for attention but someone with something serious. Bobby offers help coping. He doesn’t say ‘everything is all right, quit whining’ he tries to help Craig with skills to improve his life and live well despite the depression. But Bobby isn’t just a normal guy wandering around in the psych ward helping 16 year olds. As mentioned above, Bobby is broken himself and lashes out in anger and frustration while trying to cope.

The other characters have different levels of disorder and all on their own path to recovery with their own progress. The interactions between patients and staff feel very realistic and the interactions in group therapy likewise feels very authentic. I think the most important thing that this movie manages is to show that people with mental issues are still people and while some have disorders so severe that it shuts them down, generally they are still just people trying to live their lives the best way that they can. They are not treated as side show freaks or goofy clowns but rather as real people with aspects of their character aside from just whatever disorder has them in the hospital.

The performances really support the story and everyone does their part to help make it feel real. Galifianakis is the clear standout with a performance that is funny, sad, angry and disturbing by turns and delivers with quiet skill that is pretty awesome to watch. He generally plays overly quirky or weird and over the top characters but he feels more like a real person here than anywhere else and does so with earnestness that never strays into schlock or over sentimentality. Jeremy Davies also stands out in a smaller role as one of the staff in the ward. He really nails this sort of person perfectly and if you work in behavioral health for more than 10 minutes you are going to run into this guy. Gilchrist is excellent as Craig and grounds the whole movie by not being whiny but rather someone under a lot of pressure from his Dad and unsure of who he wants to be. That sort of thing is difficult to negotiate when you feel unworthy and depressed all the time.

Story aside, the movie is interesting to watch. It recalls films like 500 Days of Summer, with flashback cuts and fantasy sequences. There are some cool animation moments as well that give the film a visual style that feels fresh and hip without being pretentious or full of itself. These sequences are further used judiciously and you never feel bogged down by them or distracted. They are there to serve and augment the story and not just to be flashy or cool. The movie doesn’t bother trying to be cool because it just is.

Conclusion [9.0 out of 10]

From top to bottom this movie is well crafted, well acted and the story is well told. The story is compelling and the characters are rich and authentic. It helps that I found myself identifying with Craig to a point and that I feel like it was an important movie for me to see when I saw it but the experience isn’t at all depressing or emo nor does everything get wrapped up in a nice bow by the end. This is a very real and very sweet look at people with all manner of mental disorders and even if you don’t identify with anyone in the film it will likely give you a better appreciation of the people who do.