It's Kind of a Funny Story

Having already explored inner-city drug abuse in their debut film, Half Nelson, directors Anna Boden and Randy Fleck adapted author Ned Vizzini's semi-autobiographical 2006 novel, It's Kind of a Funny Story, into a clear-eyed and slightly saccharine movie about one teenager's struggle with depression. As Craig, an overwhelmed and suicidal Brooklynite who checks himself into a New York City mental hospital, Keir Gilchrist deftly underplays his despair and conveys the thought processes that mark his morbid outlook as more than just teenage angst. Craig's guilt over his depression, clearly unrelated to his easygoing, upper-middle-class upbringing, helps to humanize what could otherwise be a self-indulgent character. The psychiatric ward is populated with sympathetic patients, and Zach Galifianakis's role as a fellow inmate is a highlight of the film. Known for his surreal sense of humor and off-kilter persona, Galifianakis gives a powerful and cliché-free performance as Bobby, a man who knows how to help other people but can't help himself. Despite the fresh, naturalistic performances, the production's reliance on animated fantasy sequences eventually grows stale, and a montage of Brooklyn neighborhoods feels like a forced attempt at establishing authenticity. Craig's sunny end-of-film narration is the flipside of the famous "Choose Life" speech given by Ewan MacGregor in Trainspotting, and ties the story together in an upbeat, if predictable, fashion.