(2012)
directed by David O. Russell
If you were being totally honest with yourself, you would probably have to admit that “crazy” is an indispensable ingredient when it comes to romance. “Silver Linings Playbook” does “crazy love” better than any movie I have ever seen!
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper play damaged romantics whose behavior charmingly yet poignantly portrays the struggles, the unruly obsessions, and the general craziness that are so often a part of our romantic lives.
“Silver Linings Playbook” opens with the release from a mental institution of one Patrick Solitano, Jr. played by Bradley Cooper. A former high school teacher and a longtime sufferer of bipolar disorder, Pat has spent eight months in a psychiatric facility after beating up a fellow high school teacher whom he discovered having a shower with his wife, Nikki.
The conditions of Pat’s release are that he must take his medication, live with his parents, and stay away from his estranged wife. Now that he is a free man, Pat is determined to apply the positive thinking principles he learned while he was under treatment. “I’m remaking myself,” he says, and he vows to find the silver lining in every situation. Pat is convinced this is the best way to win back Nikki, who has filed a restraining order against him.
Robert De Niro is magnificent as Pat senior. Having lost his job and his pension, Pat senior runs a small betting operation out of his home which he hopes will eventually help finance a cheese steak restaurant. His love for his home football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, is an all consuming passion. He has been banned from the Eagles stadium for repeatedly starting fights. Later in the movie, he bets everything he has on a particular Eagles game.
Looking for silver linings is not easy. Pat reads Nikki’s teaching syllabus to try to find common ground with Nikki. Then, he awakens his parents at four in the morning to complain about the lack of a happy ending to Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.”
To distract Pat from his obsessive search for silver linings, his best friend, Ronnie, invites Pat home to dinner to introduce him to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), the sister of his controlling wife, Veronica (Julia Stiles). Tiffany is a young widow who has been depressed since the death of her policeman husband. She is at least as volatile as Pat. Tiffany is living in the garage of her parents’ home which she has turned into a dance studio. Tiffany and Pat bond over dinner as they discuss the medications they are taking.
Tiffany wants Pat to dance with her in a dance competition. Unfortunately, Pat is still fixated on Nikki. They make a deal. If Pat will rehearse a dance routine with Tiffany in her garage studio and partner with her in a dance competition, then Tiffany will deliver a letter from Pat to Nikki.
The film barrels ahead. Everything depends on an Eagles game, a dance competition, and the possibility that two damaged romantics will fall in love. Bradley Cooper is funny, lovable, and somehow courageous in his search for silver linings. Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely electrifying as Tiffany. She’s funny, sexy, and vulnerable. Between the two of them, “Silver Linings Playbook” is pure, unadulterated Hollywood magic!