It's Kind Of A Funny Story (2010)

There are a lot of reasons for me to like It's Kind Of A Funny Story.
Keir Gilchrist, who's really great in Diablo Cody's tv show, United States of Tara. 
Emma Roberts, who's... Julia Roberts' niece. (I'm sorry Emma Roberts, you're gonna have to win an Oscar before people cut that shit out. Could be worse- People could call you, 'Eric Roberts' daughter'.) Seriously, she was very good in 4,3,2,1. 
And Zach Galifianakis, the Milk Tray man of movies. He'll break in but he'll only steal your heart.
But mainly, who doesn't want to watch a comedy drama about mentally depressed people. Of the sub-genres of the 'mental depressed people' movies, comedy-drama is my favs...


Gosh. I'm telling you i would have loved this film when i was 15. maybe not- I was pretty self-aware at 15. Um. 12. I would have loved It's Kind Of A Funny Story when i was 12.
That's an arsey back-handed compliment- It's a really good film and i'm a sucker for this sort of story- where a teenage boy has girl trouble and he's sensitive and stuff. That would be my 'joint'. Like (in an astounding generalisation-) girls seem to like movies with dancing and romance- the 'sensitive teen boy' genre would be my equivalent. 
If you had to draw poorly thought-out comparisons, you could say this film is like Fisher-Price - My First 'Cookoo's Nest'. Or if you found 'One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest' too lurid and violent, this might be for you. 
It's a about a 15yo boy who suffering from feeling suicidal (read-being a 15years old) and inadvertently checks himself in for a week's observation at a psych ward, with real people with psychiatric issues.
That said there's no one on that ward who's truly crippled by their illness; there's no one 'tripping balls' on Diazepam so they stop chewing their itchy skin off but i'm missing the point, the psych ward is merely the setting for this tale.
Keir Gilchrist is really great in his role as the precocious every-teen. Emma Roberts is perfect as his cute fragile foil.
Galifianakis is great in his role as... Zach Galifianakis. I'm not under the impression he can play anyone else, I don't really want him to but here it's a more muted motivational character like a chubby white Bagger Vance.
I'd like to highlight that i love that the film doesn't ever become maudlin- I mean here, Galifianakis is playing someone actually suicidal but he's not acting like he's aching for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar by laying on the dramatics with a spade- he's good at putting on just enough emotion that it's never syrupy. The other thing I liked was nothing really changes in the end 'cept Gilchrist appreciates his life a bit more. Watching this, i realised that male puberty is starting to checking out girls boobs you like platonically or aren't even remotely attracted to. Getting old is realising you're condemned to do that with 99% of woman you come in contact with.
Which is strange, cos nothing like that happens in this film. 
I don't question where enlightenment comes from.
It's a pleasant Sunday afternoon of a film- perfect for that. It’s probably like a blokey version of My So Called Life but I’ve never seen that.
...
This is good, though...


I watched It's Kind Of A Funny Story (2010) at the cinema.
My 2011 in Movies will return with The Night of The Hunter (1955)...