It's kind of a funny story

[©brad]

Promo Trailer

Release Date: Sept 2, 2010

Starring: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifiankis, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Viola Davis, Zoe Kravitz, Aasif Mandvi, Jim Gaffigan and Jeremy Davies

Directed by: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson, Sugar)

Premise: The first trailer for Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's "It's Kind Of A Funny Story" has been unveiled and looks very much the sharp coming-of-age dramedy we expected from the duo behind "Half Nelson" and "Sugar." The film is an adaptation of Ned Vizzini's novel of the same name and stars Keir Gilchrist as a suicidal teen who checks himself into a psychiatric hospital, only to be administered into the adult facilities where he meets a colorful array of characters and even a girl of his age.


So this looks really good! I don't know if anyone watches United States of Tara, but Keir Gilchrist plays the gay son to Tara (Toni Collette) and he's really the best thing about the otherwise mildly watchable show. Glad to see he's getting some better stuff now.

[modage]

Definitely doesn't look like a hilarious story, nor an intensely dramatic one.  Kind of funny sounds accurate.

[©brad]

I have faith in Fleck/Boden. Sugar and Half Nelson are both excellent and this has a fantastic cast and seems sweet.

[RegularKarate]

This looks very promising.

Also, Mod, you're nuts if you don't think Zach will be hilarious in this.

[polkablues]

I haven't seen Sugar, and Half Nelson was a hernia of a movie wrapped around one great performance, but this looks fantastic.  And mod's been smoking some leftover Half Nelson crack; judging from the trailer, this will be very, very funny.  Even Emma Roberts can't spoil this for me.

[RegularKarate]

You didn't think Half Nelson was the best movie that year?  If not, what time do you want to meet at the Bike Rack for your nose to get broken?*




*see the Expendables, pussy!

[Pubrick]

Half Nelson sucked, never heard of Sugar, this title kind of sucks, trailer gives everything away, Zach looks funny.

Feels like another movie where the chick kisses first.

[RegularKarate]

why doesn't anyone like Half Nelson?  Am I crazy?  I remember it going over well.

Is it the Broken Social Scene?  Does it turn everyone off?

[©brad]

why doesn't anyone like Half Nelson?  Am I crazy?  I remember it going over well.

Is it the Broken Social Scene?  Does it turn everyone off?

I love both Half Nelson and Broken Social Scene. Are we taking crazy pills or are they? (I'm going to say they)

[children with angels]

Nah, Half Nelson was damn good, and I remember some good arguments for it from Pete and Losing the Horse particularly.

[pete]

thanks for the praise and I got excited and I searched that topic only to see that I did not really make any great point.

[children with angels]

What are you talking about?

dude, it's not more of a rental.  take your girl to it!  that's a command.

I mean, that's penetrating stuff...!
I don't know - maybe it was elsewhere, or perhaps just the fact that someone was calling it the best film of the year got me excited.

[modage]

I love the song at the end of this trailer. After seeing the trailer a few times I downloaded it from iTunes.

[matt35mm]

Saw this tonight.  It's okay, in the sense of being passable.  It's definitely formulaic and very predictable.  Basically: picture the movie in your head, and keep picturing it for an hour and a half--do that, and you'll have just watched this exact movie in your head.  Not a single surprise.  Not really a single moment that pops out as feeling real.  Zach is good, but is exactly as you expect.

I think that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are very observant and perceptive people, and that they've observed exactly how a movie like this is generally made, and they've done exactly that.  You can tell that it's all been thought through a lot and recreated with care.  This is true of the script as well as the filmmaking.  But that comes at the expense of any sense of spontaneity.  Ultimately the film is empty, because all of that care went into considering how a coming-of-age movie is supposed to be and adhering to that as precisely as possible.

Another problem was that most of the comedy came from how zany/cute these crazy people are, but every single one of them just has one supposedly funny thing that they do which is then repeated over and over.  That, combined with the fact that most of the movie takes place in one location, makes the movie drag and feel longer than it is.

Hmm... the more I think about the movie, the less I like it.  I don't remember it being all that funny, either... not as funny as it thought it was, anyway.  I actually like the trailer more because of that song, which isn't in the movie.  Oh well.

[polkablues]

I also saw a preview screening of this last night, but I think I liked it a lot more than Matt did.  It's certainly light fare, and breaks no new ground, but it was compulsively watchable and affecting.  All the actors are good, even Emma Roberts (mostly).  Galifianakis plays himself, as usual, but it's a much more restrained and nuanced version, and certainly what elevates the film from forgettability.  He has some real acting ability in him, and this is the first movie that's bothered to tap it.

For sure, there's a lot of indie comedy cliches to be found, and Emma Roberts' character veers dangerously close to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, but the movie is so sweet and good-natured that I just didn't mind.  All in all, I recommend it. 

I also wished the song from the trailer was in the movie.  The piano version of "Where is My Mind" midway through was pretty great, though.