I started writing this review about a week ago, and even now I have no idea what to say about this film, or rather how to express my feelings in words that people would understand.
But I could still try.
So the movie is about a high school kid who has anxiety induced suicidal thoughts. He decides to remedy this by checking himself into a psychiatric ward for a few days. He spends most of his time in the movie narrating backstory like he's Ned Bigby reading from the Declassified Psych Ward Survival Guide. Now that I think of it, it's sort of like Ferris Bueller, except where Ferris just addressed the audience and nothing much further, Craig narrates quick flashbacks whenever some important information needs to be dropped in.
And this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that the film itself has a very pseudo-indie sort of feel, ridiculous fantasy scene set to Queen's "Under Pressure" not withstanding.
On the one hand, its quirkiness is very endearing, but on the other, that may be why it feels so empty and heartless. Relying on and reveling in its quirkiness in order to not work on anything else.
That's probably where the problem lies. This film is marketed toward troubled teens, so it tries desperately to appeal to troubled teens by way of its subject matter, the way information is conveyed, and its recognizable cast (Emma Roberts, Zach Galifianakis, Jim Gaffigan, Viola Davis, Lauren Graham, Aasif Mandvi for about two minutes).
To clarify, my problem isn't the subject matter or the fact that it markets itself to its audience. My problem is that it expends so much energy on trying to be a noteworthy teen movie and not enough energy on being genuine, almost as if the movie itself is an uncertain teenager......well, there you have it.
The film isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's cute for what it is and what it's trying to be. Give it a watch and see what you get out of it. And if it becomes one of your favorites, fantastic.
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