Silver Linings Playbook

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Silver Linings Playbook
Released 11/16/12, now in theaters

Mental illness is spotlighted in David O. Russell's dark rom-com, Silver Linings Playbook.  The many-time nominated for a hundred different awards all-star cast includes Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver, and Julia Stiles.  That last sentence is said jokingly (although it's true) as I was actually quite looking forward to seeing the film.

Pat Solitano (Cooper) has been a guest of the state mental ward for the past eight months.  Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Pat was assigned to the institution as part of a plea bargain for having...overzealously beaten a man who he caught having an affair with his now estranged wife, Nikki.  Upon release to his parents' care in Philadelphia, Pat wants to do nothing more than reunite with Nikki.  That is, if he can get around that pesky restraining order she has on him and his father's obsession to bond with him every Sunday watching the family's beloved Eagles play football.  To that end, he becomes obsessed with improving himself physically and mentally becoming a workout junkie even before he's released from the mental hospital.  To the dismay of his parents, Pat Sr. and Dolores ( DeNiro and Weaver), he  also refuses to take his meds initially which leads to disastrous and, at times, comical results.

Some time after his release, Pat has dinner with his friend, Ronnie (John Ortiz) and his wife, Veronica (Julia Stiles). He meets Veronica's sister, Tiffany ( Lawrence).  Tiffany in many ways is as big of a mess mentally as Pat.  She is a recently widowed, jobless, recovering sex addict.  After several other "chance" meetings with Tiffany (mostly on his daily jog), Pat and Tiffany develop an odd friendship.  In Tiffany, Pat sees his opportunity to communicate with his wife through her as she is an acquaintance of Nikki's.  He asks Tiffany to pass a letter to Nikki that he has written explaining how much he has grown and changed.  In exchange, Tiffany needs something from him.  She has begun dancing as a therapeutic exercise and wants to enter an annual competition in the city.  She needs a partner to enter.  It takes some convincing (and a tantrum) from Tiffany, but Pat agrees to be her partner as he thinks it will further prove to Nikki how much he has changed.  The two of them begin a rigorous training regimen in preparation and become closer without realizing it (at least Pat doesn't at first).

 Meanwhile, the competition also becomes part of a parlay bet Pat Sr. makes with his gambling buddy.  After losing a large bet on the Eagles/Giants game, Pat Sr. doubles down on the Eagles winning the next Eagles/Cowboys game with the added stipulation that Pat and Tiffany must have an average score of "5" in their competition for him to win back his money to open is dream cheesesteak restaurant. No pressure there for two extremely neurotic people on medication, right?

It's always risky to tackle a subject as delicate mental illness in a comic manner.  It's not always done well.  Russell pulls it off nicely without becoming overly sentimental and also not glossing over the fact that the two leads have serious problems.  It's not a complete farce like Me, Myself, and Irene but it still has plenty of laughs throughout keep the audience engaged without depression.  It's a story of two damaged individuals who miraculously find stability in each other.  It's a sweet, if somewhat demented love story that thankfully bends the rules of traditional rom-coms. 

As much as the director, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence make this movie pop.  The accolades they have received for their performances are well deserved.  They are both terrific and believable in their angry, manic states.  And they have the most important quality that two leads should have in a love story.  Chemistry!  As unstable as both of their characters are, they just fit.  The entire cast gives good performances from Robert DeNiro's obsessive/compulsive Pat Sr. (wonder much where his son's problems come from?) to Chris Tucker as Pat's mental patient escapee friend.  And, honestly, I don't really know how Jacki Weaver's, Dolores,  wasn't in a psych ward herself looking after her husband and son. 

Silver Linings Playbook while not uproariously funny is still one of the better 2012 comedies I've seen.  It's also one of the better 2012 movies I've seen period.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

**** stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.