Tag Archives: It’s Kind of a Funny Story

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At The Theater #40: Due Date

I tempted fate this week and went back into the belly of the beast, the Regal Court St (formerly the UA Court St, forever the Hellmouth) to see Due Date. No doubt because I followed my rules from last week, I had another successful screening there. There were no loud conversations in my 10-person filled theater and no one was lighting up next to me. I count that as a win. Someone did leave the theater with 10 minutes left in Due Date. I wondered if he was visiting from Philadelphia, where that is the accepted way to see movies. I’m not sure why most people in Philly leave a movie right before the end, but it makes seeing movies in that city particularly frustrating, especially if there’s a big reveal at the end.

Saving money on a hotel by sleeping at the wheel is never a good idea.

I’m surprised that Due Date isn’t getting more love from critics. I thought it was very funny. It’s just critics, either. No one I asked wanted to see this movie, despite it starring two actors who have starred in some of the biggest movies of the past three years. Is the lack of love for Due Date connected to the current backlash against Zach Galifianakis that is going on right now? I’ll admit, when I saw an ad for Due Date while coming out of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, I thought he was becoming a little overexposed. It’s amazing how big he’s blown up after The Hangover and how many people are sick of him now, all in the course of a little over a year. He’s like Hootie and the Blowfish, but funnier.

What I really liked about Due Date is how Robert Downey Jr.’s character kept picking up little trophies from cross country trip home. None of them were trophies we wanted, like an arm cast or a blood stained shirt, but it was cool to watch the physical change he was going though on his hellish return to the west coast.

SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to talk about the ending of Due Date in detail here. If you haven’t seen it yet, go no further.

Waffle House: It’s What’s for Dinner. Blegghhhh!

The one thing I didn’t get at the end of Due Date was why Zach Galifianakis kept saying “Call me tomorrow” the way he did to Robert Downey, Jr. I kept thinking there was going to be some kind of big reveal linked the parentage of Robert Downey, Jr.’s baby or some crazy dangling comedic plot point I forgot about. But no, they jump forward a few months and Robert Downey, Jr. and family are watching Galifianakis’s character’s debut on Two and a Half Men. On a side note, the theme music to Two and Half Men is one of the best theme songs ever recorded. I thought the Two and a Half Men part was funny, but I kept wondering why Zach Galifianakis was so forceful when he said “Call me tomorrow” in the hospital. I guess he just didn’t want to be blown off and really wanted to be friends with Robert Downey, Jr. It was still a weird though.

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At The Theater #32: It’s Kind of a Funny Story

The good, free movie streak continues! Julie and I had the chance to catch a free advance screening of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, a coming of age movie set in a mental hospital.

Zach Galifianakis is great in It’s Kind of a Funny Story. He brings a lot of heart to his role as the mentor of the main character/troubled teen Craig. While writing this blog entry, I realized that I’ve liked every movie I’ve ever seen that had Zach Galifianakis in it. Maybe this is because I’ve never seen What Happens in Vegas.

ATTENTION ALL LOST FANS: Jeremy Davies is in this movie and he’s as charming as hospital staffer Smitty as he was playing Dr. Faraday on Lost. He’s also much more coherent here and in my opinion, gets the best line of the movie when he overhears some of the patients questioning the hospital’s point system.

Jeremy Davies makes me want to wear more silly hats.

Emma Roberts is very cute in this movie. Am I the only one who confuses Emma Roberts and Emma Watson? When I saw that Emma Roberts was in this movie, I expected Hermione Granger to come on screen. When she didn’t, I kept trying to figure out why Emma Roberts looked familiar. Right, the Nancy Drew trailer.

Never saw it. Will this be #52?

I don’t want to spoil what I thought was the best part of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, but it is the back story of Solomon, a Hasidic patient in the hospital. I’ll spare you the details, but days later, I’m still laughing to myself about that scene.

Should you see It’s Kind of a Funny Story? I think it is a very cute movie. It reminded me a lot of Garden State, right down to the indie-music-heavy soundtrack. While Broken Social Scene was playing during one scene, I asked Julie if this was The Shins of this movie. If you liked Garden State, I think you will like It’s Kind of a Funny Story. If you didn’t like Garden State, maybe you’ll want to wait for the DVD on this one.

Truth in advertising.