It's Kind of a Funny Story Review

Messages: The biggest message here is to choose life. Shape it, embrace it, make the most of it. Characters also learn that support and encouragement can come from the unlikeliest places, and you may be surprised at the joy of how accepting help feels.

Role models: Teenage Craig is overwhelmed (by school, girls, friends, life) and, at the start of the film, suicidal. But somehow he finds a way to shift his focus from the expectations that he feels he can't meet to ones that he'd actually like so that he has a life he enjoys. Bobby seems like a mess, despite the fact that he's about to transition into a group home. But he's empathetic and caring enough to take Craig under his wing.

Violence: A teen's imagined suicide is shown. Two patients bicker somewhat menacingly at breakfast. Another patient discusses cutting herself. A couple argues loudly in front of their child. A man has an angry outburst, yelling and throwing things on the floor/around a room.

Sex: A character ogles a classmate's chest. Later, she straddles him on a bed as they make out. A teenage boy and girl hold hands and kiss. Another couple kisses. Talk of teen characters having had sex. Patients discuss womanizing/success with the ladies. A fantasy sequence includes a character surrounded by beautiful women as "arm candy"; in another, the main character imagines his crush in the bath (shoulders/legs shown). A joke plays on multiple meanings for the word "beavers."

Language: Language includes "s--t," "crap," "laid," "d--k," "ass," "screw," "balls," "crap," "oh my God," "bulls--t," and (once) "f--k." A character gives the finger to someone else.

Consumerism: MTV, Mac, Gucci, Werther's, and Reese's are mentioned, as are prescription drugs like Zoloft and Atavan.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some talk about using Vicodin. Patients pop their pills. A teen talks about taking prescription Zoloft but goes off it without telling his doctor. A fantasy sequence includes characters holding cocktails. References to a character having done 100 tabs of acid. One character bribes a hospital janitor with pills. Jokes about getting high.