Funny Story takes on teen mental health

Hollywood is no stranger to dramatizations of psychiatric wards. Cult classics like One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest and Girl, Interrupted have delved into the difficulties of dealing with mental illness, as well as the failings and frustrations of our mental health support systems and levels of care.

But while the mildly amusing It’s Kind of a Funny Story, which was written and directed by frequent collaborators Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and is based on Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel of the same name, broaches similar themes, it takes a different route in characterizing depression, anxiety and other mental health issues and offers an optimistic look at approaching them.

Craig (Keir Gilchrist), an over-pressured, overstressed student at one of New York City’s most prestigious public high schools, bikes over to a psychiatric hospital in Brooklyn after suffering from some persistent suicidal dreams.

He’s looking for some help, he tells the doctor who admits him (Aasif Mandvi), for a stronger support system than his well-meaning, slightly clueless parents (Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan) can provide.

He has collegiate summer program applications to fill out, political aspirations to achieve, and a big crush on his best friend’s girlfriend, Nia (Zoë Kravitz) to suppress.

The doctor admits him to the adult ward — the teen ward is undergoing renovations — and Craig, surrounded by patients suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia, feels that a serious mistake has been made.

“I have school tomorrow!” he protests to Dr. Minerva (Viola Davis), the psychiatrist in charge. But he has to stick it out for at least five days, and thus he resigns himself to a near-week of group therapy, hospital food, and a roommate, Muqtada (Bernand White), who has never left the room.

Craig discovers, of course, that the psychiatric ward isn’t quite the ninth circle of hell he thought it would be, especially since his brief stint is guided by Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), a patient suffering from serious depression who helps Craig sludge through the mire he thinks his young life has become.

Craig also develops a close relationship with Noelle (Emma Roberts), a teenage cutter with a passion for music. With Bobby and Noelle’s — and most of the other patients’ — help, Craig begins, tentatively, to find his way.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a sweet, if not stellar, movie, a sanitized look at mental illness and its care.

It is beautifully filmed, interspersing stark, fluorescent images of hospital life with colorful fantasy and cinematography hyped-up by a Broken Social Scene soundtrack.

Gilchrist’s honest performance as Craig makes for a believable, empathetic and important lead character, while Galifianakis’ deadpan, depressive Bobby is a far cry from the madcap Hangover role that has thus far defined his career.

Roberts, fresh from her first adult role in Joel Schumaker’s Twelve, shows off some serious acting chops as the damaged Noelle.

There are moments in which It’s Kind of a Funny Story dips a little too deeply into saccharine, making complex illnesses

and situations look simple, and painting the mental health care system as a complete panacea to the problems plaguing the mentally ill.

Without giving away too much of the ending, some major plot points are too easily and too suddenly resolved, and the audience is left to feel as though it had been hurtled through a high-speed chase that ended in a mutual draw.

More importantly, the plot often feels underdeveloped; while we learn quite a bit about Craig’s own depression, we never learn enough about the other patients in the ward.

Noelle’s and Bobby’s illnesses, for example, are never given much insight or are really explained, though we are told how they are manifested.

Also, there is an annoying Vampire Weekend name-drop moment that feels like a forced attempt on the filmmakers’ part to level with a younger audience.

But while, in some ways, It’s Kind of a Funny Story falls just short of realistic profundity, the film captures the very real problems of pressure and anxiety that plague high school — not to mention, college — students today.

Craig is a relatable protagonist, a boy on the brink of the real world who feels that his life will be worthless without the best extracurriculars, the best college education, and the best career, and that this fictional future depends entirely on every single one of his present actions.

He has no time to stop, to breathe, to exist for himself, because to do so would jeopardize his plans and, most importantly, disappoint his parents.

It’s this pressure that drives Craig to imagine himself jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge night after night, to feel that the world is closing in on him and he is powerless to stop it.

But Bobby, who has recently lost both his home and his family due to his mental illness, reminds Craig that he still has his whole life to live, with a host of possibilities ahead him and a future rife with promise.

Craig’s anxiety is not unfounded, but with some perspective, a bit of optimism and a strong support system, it can be dealt with, something that should supply at least some comfort to the rest of us who are similarly struggling to make sense of our futures.