Funny Story is a 2019 comedy drama about a well-intentioned father who inadvertently wreaks havoc on the life of his estranged daughter.
One of the best things about certain comedies is how well it deals with the reality or the more punch in the gut emotional moments that in the end, make the laughs feel more earned. These moments are what help most audiences find connection. This is also where writer and director Michael J. Gallagher‘s latest effort puts us, Funny Story indeed just that, a funny story with a genuine shift that makes for a quirky but inventive little tale that does just what it intends.
Walter (Walter Glave) once had a semi-successful gig on television back in the 90s, starring in a fantasy series with low production values and a cult following. Now he’s in his fifties, divorced after cheating on his wife, involved with a woman (Daisye Tutor) half his age with a five-year-old daughter, and also pregnant with his baby. Oh, and his grown daughter Nic (Jana Winternitz) doesn’t want much to do with him, but does have a favor, asking him to pick up her stranded friend Kim (Emily Bett Rickards) and bring her to Big Sur for a special occasion. Thing is, on the road trip, something happens and it ends up having some pretty substantial consequences on all parties, leading Walter to deal with a growing theme in his life: regret.
It’s about twenty-seven minutes into Funny Story where the film reveals its twist, and while astute viewers won’t find it all that surprising, I won’t spoil it here. Either way, what we end up with is a genuinely solid (if not well-worn) bend in the road that allows Walter to be in the company of people that put him in some decidedly awkward situations, but not quite in the way you’d expect.
Meanwhile, the story also gives shape to Kim, who is visibly depressed, dealing with the long, slow passing of her mother. She is troubled and bleak, searching for belonging, using her body to try and cross the country, recklessly abandoning her own morals to feel anything. This serves as the counterweight on the film’s seesaw plot, the two in the same place while Walter works to find common ground with his daughter who is suppressing her animosity for her father. The worst is yet to come though.
Funny Story is a light and breezy affair with some deeper issues that peel away as it progresses, Walter a thinly-defined soul at the start who gets a few laughs for his predicament before morphing into a complicated and complex figure. Glave finds particular warmth in the darker recesses of Walter as he comes to terms with a number of hurdles and potholes that test him. It’s a fine performance that seems die-cast for the actor, who takes it in all the right directions.
It all builds to something confrontational, naturally, and Gallagher gets to this with some real competence, allowing the multiple layers to find their place, though the inevitable does lose some stability, the timing and decisions not feeling all that authentic, if not at least true to Walter. Funny Story is an earnest effort and while the traction holding it together slips just in the last moments, there’s no taking away the emotional impact it works to deliver. Recommended.