Title: Silver Linings Playbook<\/p>\n
Directed By: David O. Russell<\/p>\n
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, Julia Stiles, Brea Bee, John Ortiz<\/B><\/p>\n
Writer-director David O. Russell excels, but his stars steal the show. Bradley Cooper makes for a charming and enigmatic lead, but Jennifer Lawrence steals his spotlight. While everyone involved in \u201cSilver Linings Playbook\u201d pushes the bar higher and higher, it\u2019s Lawrence who\u2019ll be the toughest to top.<\/p>\n
After eight months in a psychiatric facility, Pat (Bradley Cooper) heads home to live with his mother and father (Jacki Weaver and Robert De Niro). Determined to get his wife back, Pat dedicates every waking hour to the pursuit, much to the chagrin of his father who desperately wants Pat to watch the Philadelphia Eagles games with him. Despite Pat\u2019s persistence, a restraining order keeps him from making much progress. It isn\u2019t until he meets the equally unsound Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) that he finds a way around the court-mandated red tape \u2013 as long as he helps Tiffany out with her dance competition first.<\/p>\n
\u201cSilver Linings Playbook\u201d is a romantic comedy with a profound amount of drama and depth, a slice of life yet an immensely satisfying story with a beginning, middle and end, it\u2019s off-putting at times, but still the ultimate crowd pleaser. The film is like nothing you\u2019ve seen before, fulfilling certain expectations and defying others, only to turn around and offer something you never saw coming.<\/p>\n
Not only is Pat kind of crazy, but he\u2019s violent. He did his time at the state institution because he nearly beat a man to death in a fit of rage. As Tiffany says, he says more inappropriate things than appropriate things, often loses his temper and is alarmingly obsessed with a woman who cheated on him. On paper, Pat\u2019s as unlikeable as they come, but on screen, Cooper infuses him with an innocence and goodness you\u2019d never associate with someone with a past like Pat\u2019s.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t take long for Russell to establish Pat\u2019s fanatical behavior and it also doesn\u2019t take long for Pat\u2019s rants to grow old, but just before you\u2019re compelled to give up hope, in comes Tiffany. Cooper may be front and center the entire time, but \u201cSilver Linings Playbook\u201d still feels like Lawrence\u2019s movie. Tiffany may be brash to the max, but there\u2019s something incredibly magnetizing about her and it primarily comes from the life and zest Lawrence gives her. Cooper does a fine job, but Lawrence manages Tiffany\u2019s eccentricities in a more controlled manner. Pat is either hot or cold. Tiffany, on the other hand, has this range that makes her unpredictable and a bit more fun to track.<\/p>\n
Weaver is almost entirely wasted as Pat\u2019s mother while De Niro makes off with a far more complete character. Weaver is merely presented as the loving mother with a soft spot for her baby boy, but De Niro\u2019s character\u2019s got layers. He loves his son, but seems to find the Eagles and honoring his football betting superstitions just as important. Mom comes across more as a prop while dad packs the power to effect the plot.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s one of very few missteps Russell takes as a writer-director. Russell takes an appropriately subdued approach to making this movie, which, while the smart choice, also makes for a greater risk; he\u2019s just lucky he snagged such talented leads. The script is dialogue heavy and a little repetitive, but Lawrence and Cooper give their characters so much definition and heart, even the most mundane events, like eating a bowl of Raisin Bran, become all-consuming and surprisingly moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cSilver Linings Playbook\u201d is funny and charming, but also has an underlying sadness that makes it wonderfully poignant. You get the satisfaction you\u2019d expect from a romantic comedy and even a feel-good sports movie, but Lawrence and Cooper\u2019s delicate treatment of their characters\u2019 situations makes it far more than a fleeting source of entertainment.<\/p>\n
Technical: B+<\/p>\n
Acting: A<\/p>\n
Story: A-<\/p>\n
Overall: A-<\/B><\/p>\n
![\"Silver](\"http:\/\/g-ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/G\/01\/imdb\/plugins\/rating\/images\/imdb_31x14.png\")