I can respect a movie that focuses on characters far more easily than I can one that focuses on plot. There's something intrinsically pleasing and human about getting to know someone through the lens of a projected screen. It gives you a baseline to build a foundation of a movie experience, whereas a focus on plot tends to have several points of friction. Of course, almost any effective piece of cinematic art depends on both characterization and plot to capture the attention of its viewers.
It's Kind of a Funny Story tells a... kind of funny story about a teenager who checks himself into a psychiatric ward after contemplating suicide. While this one sentence introduction might suggest something like a black comedy or tragic drama, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck approach the topic with varying degrees of levity and gravity with a fair amount of success.
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