By: Henry J. Fromage
A teenager who can’t stop thinking about suicide checks himself into a mental ward and starts to realize how good life can be. I have seen cheerier setups…
A Toast
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is exactly what it says it is. Like anything else that is ‘kind of’, that’s both good and bad.
Although admittedly, sometimes it’s a lot more bad than good
A tip of the glass to the writing, which involves some pretty funny interchanges such as “that smells like a hobo’s band-aid” and a discussion of beavers.
This kind? You’ll have to watch to find out
Zach Galifanakis is great, showing both his comic and little used dramatic skills, which will keep him in good roles for quite awhile.
The style and plot structure are also pretty whimsical, with several flashbacks/imaginative interludes a la Family Guy, regular abuse of the Third Wall, and an animated entry to the narrator’s imagination. This is cool, except that…
Beer Two
… that’s kind of what all ‘indy’ dramedies are doing these days. The writing/directing team, Anna Fleck and Ryan Boden, are known for imaginative, human-interest films such as Half Nelson and Sugar. So it’s a bit of a disappointment when they resort to familiar territory for the quirky coming of age type of film.
2009 loyalkng.com
Thankfully not this ‘Indy’
Beer Three
I’m cool with a film using a conventional style, especially if I enjoy that style, or if they put a different spin on it or push its boundaries past what’s been done before. This film stays nice, safe, and mild, which is not the way to make a film that will be remembered past next week. Drinking these 3 beers won’t help this process, but it could help you ignore how much better this could have been.
Or most processes.
Verdict
It’s worth a watch. It’ll entertain you enough and there are enough bursts of originality to appreciate.
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