Silver Linings Playbook

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I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Silver Linings Playbook, but after watching it’s going on my top ten movie list-of all times.  From the very beginning you get this sense that Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is not crazy.  Sure he has serious rage problems and impulse control issues, but who isn’t crazy in their own way?  He's so good in this role.

David O. Russell has an uncanny ability to give us deeply flawed characters we can’t help but root for.  Pat is the latest.  We meet him after an eight-month stint in a mental institution.  The time away from the problems that drove him there does nothing to satiate Pat’s love for his estranged wife.  The indirect reason he went away in the first place.  He’s determined to reunite with his wife although she has a restraining order against him.

As Pat tries to find his silver lining and have any chance of a normal life, his family makes it very difficult.  His dad, Pat Sr (Robert De Niro) clearly has psychological issues of his own.  His mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) seems at a loss as to how to make all her boys happy.  Further adding to the family turmoil is a visit from Pat’s brother, Jake (Shea Whigham), who seems to be doing very well and is a fully functioning member of society. 

After seeing his friend, Ronnie (John Ortiz), Pat gets invited to dinner.  What he doesn’t know is Ronnie’s wife Veronica (Julia Stiles) has invited her sister Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence).  We pick up on the fact that this is a set-up but it takes Pat too long to figure it out.   Pat’s inability to have a polite conversation is on full display as we find out Tiffany has experienced her own set of life circumstances that are anything but enviable.  She makes inappropriate advances when Pat walks her home but this gets him thinking.  Tiffany proceeds to “stalk” Pat in an effort to start a friendship that he at first wants no part of but later realizes could be a huge help in getting his wife back.

Everyone in the movie is amazing.  Amazing.  They all turn in performances that are heart felt and very much deserving of Oscar nominations.  One scene in particular with Cooper and De Niro is so genuinely raw it just blows you away.   Jackie Weaver is the perfect balance of presence and maternal interaction.  When she comes to pick-up Pat from the institution and they end up also giving a ride to his friend and fellow patient Danny (exceptionally brought to life by Chris Tucker), you can tell she just wants Pat to succeed.  But she doesn’t know how to help. 

Jennifer Lawrence always knocks it out of the park for me.  I love her.  In hearing that Russell wasn’t even seriously considering her for the part of Tiffany, I was floored.  I don’t know what other actress could have been more appropriate.  You fall under her spell because she’s too young to be so unsuspectingly wise.  Anupam Kher serves as a more obvious source of guidance for Pat.  Their relationship is amazing and their chemistry enjoyable. 

I rarely love a movie as much as I did Silver Linings Playbook because a lot of movies are just stories being told.  I felt these actors lived these lives and were these people.  I saw myself and my own misguided attempts at achieving normalcy in these characters actions, and I guess in some ways I hope I can come to a place where I realize we’re all just doing the best we can every day.  And that has to be enough.