Yes, 'It's Kind of a Funny Story'

Generally speaking, the psych ward is not a setting for a teen comedy.

Those white halls and dorm beds usually promise all kinds of on-screen horror - lobotomies, throat-slitting and so on.

You'll see none of that in "It's Kind of a Funny Story," set in the benevolent Argenon Hospital, a fictional Brooklyn institution. That's where suicidal 16-year-old Craig Gilner (Keir Gilchrist) commits himself one Sunday morning, even though we can tell he's merely stressed out by school, parents and girls (or the lack of them). Still, Craig isn't faking when he begs a doctor to let him in: "I'm scared, OK?"

The teen ward is under renovation, so Craig is locked in with the grown-ups for five days of soft food, meds and art therapy. Things aren't all bad: He finds a friend in Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), whose offbeat charisma masks a crippling insecurity, and there's also the sullen but pretty Noelle (Emma Roberts, kohled up like Winona Ryder in "Girl, Interrupted"). He even gains the confidence to sing the Queen-Bowie classic "Under Pressure," backed by an unstable band.

Although this is Craig's story, the movie belongs to Galifianakis. He's mostly known for broad comedies like "The Hangover," and his turn in the upcoming road-trip romp "Due Date" may further typecast him. Here, however, he's vulnerable and raw, a man exhausted by the constant battle to overcome his problems. In a mental ward full of the usual stereotypes - shouters, mutterers, zombies - Galifianakis' Bobby feels very real.

Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck ("Half-Nelson") and based on Ned Vizzini's semiautobiographical novel, "It's Kind of a Funny Story" focuses so closely on Craig that everyone else tends to fade: Bobby remains a semi-mystery, Noelle's hot pink scars are never explained, and none of the other patients have even the briefest back story. But the film is refreshingly honest and free of ginned-up teen drama. Craig's ultimate epiphany - "Your problem is, you never chill," says a school friend - seems major precisely because it's so minor.