For the (I think) third year in a row, The Wife & I spent the day at Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club, where they do a traditional dinner with a movie. Our movie this year was It’s Kind of a Funny Story, from a novel by Ned Vizzini.
Keir Gilchrist plays a rich Manhattan high school kid who thinks he’s suicidal because he’s depressed over school worries & a crush on his best friend’s girlfriend. He goes to the emergency room in hopes of a quick fix, manages to get himself admitted to the psych unit for five days, & quickly realizes that he’s not really crazy, these people are crazy. One of his new, legitimately crazy pals (Zach Galifianakis) becomes his mentor. He also finds a new love interest: a young “cutter” (Emma Roberts) with some elegant scars on one of her beautiful cheeks.
I couldn’t decide if setting a standard coming-of-age story in a mental ward was offensive or not. In any case, the movie was charming on its own terms, with inventive direction by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, & fine performances from a cast that includes Viola Davis, Jim Gaffigan, Lauren Graham, Jeremy Davies & Zoe Kravitz. Young Gilchrist is good company, but Galifianakis is the standout, entirely convincing as this intelligent, likable wreck.
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