It's Kind of a Funny Story is kind of a good movie. By 'kind of', I also mean it's kind of a lousy one too - it's an odd mix of nice characters and bad storytelling. It's part touching, part pretentious. It's self-aware, but also carelessly conceived. It's a hard movie to review, as I don't regret seeing it, but I wouldn't suggest rushing out to it either.
Craig (Keir Gilchrist) is sixteen and wants to kill himself. Or at least he thinks he might. Before he acts on his thoughts of ending it all, he checks into a hospital psychiatric ward and gets more than he bargained for. He meets Bobby (Zach Galafianakis from The Hangover), a fellow patient and unlikely mentor. He also meets Noelle (Emma Roberts from Valentine's Day), another teenager with issues all her own. In addition to these new friends, he meets a cast of eccentric and troublesome people as he serves out his 'sentence' in the medical facility.
The movie never decides whether it wants to be a comedy, drama, coming-of-age film, or romantic comedy. Maybe it's a little of all of those, but something about it felt disjointed. I liked the main characters, while the supporting ones seemed either underdeveloped (Craig's parents for two) or downright hokey (Craig's roommate). There were scenes that were hard to watch because they were so odd, and others that were genuinely touching. Maybe it's a fault of the editor, because there is a really good movie somewhere in here. For me though, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Wait for the DVD, but do see it eventually.
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