Silver Linings Playbook

 

Good Lord, here we go. The problems of really pretty people. That is exactly what I need to see this week. All of those were my reaction to first seeing the trailer. The trailer doesn't help but downplay how quirky and truthful this film is. It has a great sense of time and place and the life moments that we let define us. It's a different kind of story and a different kind of character ennui which as you know, for me is everything.

Bradly Cooper plays a man who is just out of a mental institution. He was put there by the courts after nearly beating to death the man he caught cheating with his wife. Now he is out with a mission to win his wife back and return to the life he once knew. Of course no one ever gets to come home again.

This was not the movie I expected. I immediately bought into the plight of this poor dumb bastard whose ego, and mental illness collided to destroy his life.  I totally understood his focus and his madness. I got a little teary eyed at times wishing I too would get the same chance at redemption that Cooper's Patrick does.

It's a series of coincidental events that run this story but it all comes together in a sweet and charming way. Bradly Cooper deserved his Oscar nomination for best actor and I am happy for the attention this movie is getting for him. This is the anti-rom com to me. Nothing here is easy or predictable. Like life, things are messy and everyone has something they carry with them and fight against to maintain their sanity.



Then there is Jennifer Lawrence...dear sweet Jennifer Lawrence who is a gift to us all. She is so open that nothing she says or does is filtered or false. She is wondrous here and magical and everyone of these characters deserves a little magic. Her first entry has that 'Face It Tiger - You Just Hit The Jackpot' impact. If you know your Spider-Man you will understand what I mean.

Even the little roles are strong.  Julia Stiles as a high maintenance uber mom stole the movie for me in a film full of these charming little roles. They didn't need all the football stuff but it gives us a strong third act.

David O. Russel directed and wrote this story. Those kind of movies tend to have a singular vision and strong casting which in this one only augments a strong script. The first meeting between Tiffany and Pat has that classic old school movie chemistry. Their sweet and honest relationship is enough to overcome the incredible sequence of events that bring and hold these two characters together. There are times that they act or react in unpredictable ways and I found that very refreshing.

I am doubly happy that both Lawrence and Cooper got nominated for these roles. They bounce off each other like they have know each other forever. And how old exactly is Jennifer Lawrence's soul? She scares me and makes me worship her all at the same time. She must make is easy to play against and obviously Cooper caught some of the pixie dust. His pretty boy nature is nicely muted here.

The interactions between the two are never forced. This movie is all about the REACTION to how the world spins around us. I totally related to the madness of the ordinary life that is so perfectly captured by Patrick's illness. Strangely enough the worse thing about this film is that it's a love story and I usually hate those. I am glad I have a new high mark to judge all future such romantic comedies by.