I had mixed feelings about It’s Kind of a Funny Story, directed by Half Nelson and Sugar directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. They were so mixed, in fact, that I ended up doing something I’ve never done at a fest before — I saw the film twice, once at a P&I screening and once at its public premiere.

I found that the film played very differently to the two audiences, which is interesting to ponder, because I then also have to consider how much of my own emotional response to the film was affected by the vibe in the room when I saw it, and then attempt to dissect that influence out of the mix in order to be as fair as I possibly can in critiquing it.

So here’s the thing … or rather, here are several things to consider about It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

First, the film is adapted off a book by Ned Vizzini, which in turn was based off Vizzini’s own experience being briefly hospitalized for depression. So while my own initial reaction to certain aspects of the film was that it makes a little light of teenage stress, depression, and suicide, if the story is based on Vizzini’s own experiences, who am I to invalidate them?

On the other hand, my best friend committed suicide when I was 16, and I’ve gone through bouts of severe depression myself, so my sense of humor — or tolerance for dark humor — about the subject may be somewhat skewed in a way that the average moviegoer’s may not be, but I can’t just wipe away my own experiences and have them not influence my emotional reaction to certain aspects of the film.

I very much like and respect Boden and Fleck as filmmakers, and I loved both Half Nelson and Sugar, which is the kind of work I tend to think of them making; this film felt to me to be far more commercial than their previous work, and the first time around it felt a bit jarring, like when you love an obscure indie band for their first two albums and their third album is unexpectedly more radio-friendly and mainstream; it’s not that the latter effort isn’t perfectly fine, even good, per se … just different than what you’ve come to expect of them, if that makes sense.

So, taking all those things under consideration, I went into my second viewing of the film with as open a mind as possible, and with more of an eye to seeing the things I think of when I think of Boden and Fleck in the film: beautiful cinematography; tight, smart editing choices; interesting performances directed in unexpected ways that resonate and feel real. And all those things are, to a large extent, present and accounted for in It’s Kind of a Funny Story, which I did like much better for seeing it a second time around.

The film centers around Craig (Keir Gilchrist), a suicidally depressed teen who checks himself into the psych ward. Because renovations are being done in the teen psych ward, the teens are being housed with the adults, which is how Craig happens to meet fellow patient Bobby (Zack Galifianakis), who kind of becomes Craig’s mental ward mentor, and Noelle (Emma Roberts), another teen patient.

Craig’s committed for five days, and over the course of those days he gets a new outlook on life; this aspect of the film I found a bit trite the first time around, and I suspect someone knew that’s what we’d be thinking at that point because the film ends with a voiceover saying something like “you probably think it’s a bit unrealistic that in five days I was healed of my suicidal depression …”

Well, yeah, we do, but at the same time I have to also acknowledge that when you are a teenager, things that might seem small, even unreasonable to adults look entirely different to you. A fight with a best friend or a big exam can feel huge and even earth-shattering; on top of that, teens today are terribly pressured to “succeed” in a way that I never felt to that extent when I was that age.

Kids are pushed by parents and teachers, and they push themselves because we have so completely sold them on the idea that you “have” to have these particular things, these particular accomplishments, a degree from a prestigious school, in order to have a happy life as an adult. In New York City, it’s competitive to get into the “right” preschool. And all of this, of course, is complete bullshit.

I don’t know of any study that shows an actual correlation between your degree of happiness as an adult and whether you went to a prestigious private college versus your state university. The truth is, you can be happy or unhappy as an adult regardless of how many extra-curricular activities you did in high school, or how high your SAT score was, or how many awards you got. Happiness — real happiness — has very little to do with any of those things, but we continue to sell our young people on the idea that it does, nonetheless. And then we wonder why teens are stressed out and taking anti-depressants and needing therapy and committing suicide. It’s just crazy stupid.

So is it plausible that a kid like Craig could feel so pressured by parents and school and the need to achieve that he would be depressed and suicidal? Yes, absolutely. Is it also plausible that five days in the psych ward would, if not heal him completely, at least give him a different perspective? Yes, it is.

It’s also reasonable to posit that five days out of the pressure cooker of his life might gave Craig some perspective that would decrease his desire to take his own life. The film doesn’t show us how well Craig holds up when he, like the proverbial lobster, is thrown back into the pot, because it’s just about those five days in 3 North, the psych unit. He now has coping mechanisms, but it’s still up to him to choose to use them.

Although this film is a big departure stylistically for Boden and Fleck, you can see where they are trying to bring much the same sensibility to the direction of It’s Kind of a Funny Story that they brought to Half Nelson and Sugar. They seem to be trying to blend indie artistry with mainstream sensibility, aiming for that “Fox Searchlight sweet spot,” and for the most part, I actually expect it will play generally fine with mainstream moviegoers. Boden and Fleck are generally thought of as more artsy directors by the critical set, so perhaps that’s part of the problem with how it’s been received critically.

I wouldn’t say It’s Kind of a Funny Story is my favorite film from Boden and Fleck, but it’s a long way off from being the worst film of the year, or even the worst film of this fest. If we were doing a critics chart for TIFF, I’d give it a yellow. They have some missteps and plot potholes in there, but there are enough laughs, and the lead performances are strong enough, that it still plays well for the right audience.

Here’s hoping they find it.

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