Review #843 - Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
THE SCOOPDirector: David O. Russell
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
Plot: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Awards: Won 1 Oscar - Best Leading Actress. Nom. for 7 Oscars - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing
Runtime: 122min
Rating: NC16 for language and some sexual content/nudity.
TRAILER:
OST:
IN RETROSPECT
“I opened up to you, and you judged me.”
Coming off the success of
the boxing drama The Fighter (2010),
which won two supporting acting Oscars, director David O. Russell scores
another winner in this crowd-pleasing romantic dramedy. I daresay it is an even
better film than The Fighter, more
enjoyable, and featuring performances just as excellent, if not more so.
Adapted from the novel by
Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook is
a feel-good entry into the Oscar race. I suspect it may leave the ceremony
empty-handed considering the wealth of great performances in contention, but
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone,
2010; The Hunger Games, 2012) may
have an ace or two up her sleeves.
Lawrence plays Tiffany, a
mysterious girl with a tragic recent past who wanders into the life of Pat
(Bradley Cooper), who is out to reconcile with his ex-wife, and to some extent
his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver, after a stint as a
patient at a local mental institution.
The screen chemistry
between Lawrence and Cooper is extraordinary as the two seemingly crazed
characters that they embody strike out an unconventional love-hate friendship
that often appears to spill into romance, but never does. Lawrence’s
performance is the best shot at an Oscar for Russell’s film at the moment, but
that is not to discount the strength of the supporting performances.
De Niro, especially, is
back in top form. He does the difficult job of inducing comedy through drama,
and it all comes out genuinely well. He has a superb script to work with, so do
the rest of the ensemble cast.
The sharp and tight
storytelling never loses steam, and it builds to an incredibly satisfying final
act with a kind of strong character and narrative momentum that is quite rarely
felt in a motion picture of this genre for some time. Like I said, Silver Linings Playbook is a
crowd-pleaser, but it propels itself in that direction by the sheer force of its
screen material rather than anything else.
The lengthy climatic
sequence is a culmination of dramatic intensity, shot and edited in such a way
that it gives energy, anticipation, and emotion not only to what has transpired
before it, but provides the impetus for what will happen after.
Silver Linings Playbook is ultimately a film about being comfortable with
oneself and being optimistic about life. Claudia Puig of USA Today puts it
aptly: “[The film] is consistently entertaining, with its scrappy, well-drawn
characters, offbeat humour, and indefatigable positive outlook.” It will also
easily find a spot in my Top 10 Films of 2012.
GRADE: A (9/10 or 4.5 stars)
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