It's Kind of a Funny Story

Comedy-dramas are a tricky business. You have to be sentimental but not sappy; funny but not frivolous. It's tough to veer between the light-hearted and the serious.

Indie filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck don't just take on this challenge with "It's Kind of a Funny Story"--they up the ante by setting the action in an inpatient facility for the mentally ill. Keir Gilchrist stars as Craig, a privileged teenager suffering from depression over girls and academic pressures. He admits himself to the facility and quickly learns that his problems don't compare to those of the other patients.

Boden and Fleck don't gloss over the patients' ailments, but they are at times able to show them in a mildly humorous light--no small feat. Their difficult balance is best embodied and executed by Zach Galifanakis as Bobby, a depressed patient with understated wit. After seeing Galifanakis ham it up in "The Hangover", it's nice to see him work the lower registers. He provides subtlety to a role that easily could have been played for bombast.

If Boden and Fleck pull all this off, why doesn't "It's Kind of a Funny Story" feel like a better movie? The biggest problem is the trap they've set for themselves. They certainly don't want to trivialize the patients' problems, but they also don't want to make a serious message movie on the order of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". They have to keep the humor relatively muted, but they also can't probe the emotional depths of the mentally ill. There aren't any uproarious moments of laughter here, and there aren't any unblinking looks at the abyss into which depression and other illnesses can sink you. They have to go halfway on both accounts.

There are other issues as well, principally related to the filmmakers' reliance on some Hollywood conventions. Problems are introduced and resolved in an overly pat way. Craig must of course have a love interest, though fortunately the tryst doesn't overwhelm the story.

Boden and Fleck also achieve mixed results with the fantasy and flashback sequences they employ. A tour through a city Craig draws set to bland hip-hop? No. An over-the-top karaoke rendition of "Under Pressure" by the patients? Yes.

Really, the title says it all. "It's Kind of a Funny Story". It could be worth watching. Maybe.

Songs of the Decades

"Best Of" lists are a dime a dozen. I enjoy them, but they often feel like a fool's errand. How can you possibly rank songs by Pavement, Pulp and Dr. Dre, as Pitchfork recently tried to do with its "Songs of the '90s" feature?

I find it more interesting to think about songs that best encapsulate their time. Songs that are great, yes, but also songs that couldn't be created at any other time. So here is a list of songs that best encapsulate their decades.

1960s: The Kinks, "Village Green Preservation Society"

A weird choice, I know. But this song is at the crossroads of a lot of musical trends from this diverse decade. It's a slightly trippy, utopian tune that worships nature, the sort of pretty pop that earned a lot of bands big paychecks in the '60s. It doesn't bring the noise like Hendrix or Zep, but it's not exactly CSNY territory either. There's a lead guitar part that would sound right at home on a CCR record, and a driving beat that recalls the early days of rock 'n' roll.

1970s: The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Bloated arena rock with synthesizers was all the rage in the '70s. The Who managed to adopt this sound while keeping their edge. Then there are the lyrics. Nothing says '70s better than a disillusioned lament over a failed revolution.

Also, it fucking rocks.

1980s: Guns N' Roses, "Paradise City"

I'm not much of a GNR fan, but the euphoric chorus and awesomely excessive soloing are hard to deny here. Through sheer chops, GNR was able to transcend the decadent, frequently awful rock of the '80s. They were among the best that an economically prosperous, artistically mediocre decade had to offer.

1990s: Beck, "Loser"

You can't imagine this song in any other decade. The surreal, slacker lyrics perfectly capture the essence of Gen X. The jangly hip hop beat and pseudo-rap cadence reflect the rise of hip hop. The Delta slide guitar foreshadows artists' increasing nostalgia for older styles. It's a tremendous melding of genres in a decade that gave us way, way too many rap-rock acts.

2000s: Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"

It's tempting to go with "Hey Ya". Although that's a great song, it's relevant here largely for the same reason as "Loser"--it combines old and new in a fresh way.

"Crazy" better reflects a decade that came to be dominated by hip hop and related genres, not to mention sampling. And what better adjective to reflect a decade of relative affluence in which we still felt restless and discontented? A decade where pop culture came to be dominated by "reality" television and celebrity scandals? A decade in which we twice elected a man who failed at every job he ever had, including the presidency? (OK, he cheated once.)