Review: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

November 19, 2012 Reviews No Comments

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Director: David O. Russell
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Official Trailer: Here

The oughts (or noughts if you prefer) were something of a lost decade for filmmaker David O. Russell. After Three Kings, a trenchant satire of the First Iraq War (with decided relevance for the second), thirteen years ago, Russell turned his attention to a personal project, I Heart Huckabees, an existential comedy-drama that took five years to bring to the big screen, but disappointed moviegoers and critics alike. Six years followed without a Russell film before Mark Wahlberg tapped Russell to direct The Fighter, a true-life boxing drama that garnered Christian Bale a well-deserved Academy Award. Thankfully, moviegoers didn’t have to wait another six years for another film directed by Russell. His latest, Silver Linings Playbook, an unconventional romantic comedy-drama adapted from Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel, confirms Russell’s return to the top of his profession.

Already an Academy Award-nominee for Best Actress (for Winter’s Bone two years ago), Lawrence proves, as if additional proof was necessary, that she’s not a one- or two-hit wonder…

When we meet Pat Solitano, Jr. (Bradley Cooper), he’s completing the eighth month of involuntary confinement in a mental hospital. As a result of a violent act, Pat’s lost everything, his wife, his job as a high-school history teacher, and any semblance of normality. His previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder already made “normality” unlikely, but Pat’s institutionalization has led him to reexamine his life choices, if only superficially (denial rules Pat’s inner world). He’s lost weight (to look like Bradley Cooper) and he’s forcibly changed his mental outlook to continually emphasize the positive over the negative, regardless of external reality. He has a simple, if unattainable, goal: To repair his failed marriage to his ex-wife, Nikki (Brea Bee).

Released into his parents’ care, Pat moves into the attic. With structure a paramount concern, he takes regular runs around his neighborhood in sweats and a garbage bag. Russell offers clues to Pat’s problems in his parents’ personalities and their relationship with him. His father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), suffers from a relatively mild form of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Like his son, Pat Sr., has a temper. They also share a borderline obsessive love for the Philadelphia Eagles. Pat Sr.’s OCD manifests itself in a set of superstitious pre-game activities. Improbably, he considers Pat Jr. a good-luck charm. While naturally sympathetic and supportive, Pat’s mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver), slips into passivity when (and where conflicts arise).

With a delusional mindset and a refusal to take the medications that might help him cope with his bipolarity, Pat seems headed for major disappointment or worse. Pat reconnects with an old neighborhood friend, Ronnie (John Ortiz), but like everything else with Pat, there’s an ulterior motive: The friendship between Ronnie’s wife, Veronica (Julia Stiles), and Pat’s ex-wife. Dinner leads to a blind set-up of sorts with Veronica’s sister, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), temporarily or perhaps derailing Pat’s plans to reconnect with his ex-wife. Both Pat Sr.’s illegal book-making, a response to financial difficulties that reflect our current economic climate and the Eagles’ play a narrative, as does a promise Tiffany exacts from Pat, but the less said, the better moviegoers will enjoy the Silver Linings Playbook’s second-half surprises.

Tiffany, however, has emotional issues of her own. With both Pat and Tiffany emotionally and mentally fragile, a successful romantic relationship seems unlikely. It’s to Russell’s considerable credit that he doesn’t sidestep their emotional issues alone or together. He also finds humor, some of it broad, much of it awkward, in Pat’s inability to accept or follow social norms, speaking his mind or expressing his judgment on a sensitive issue or matter at the most inappropriate times. Tiffany combines a mercurial nature with a fearlessness and bluntness that would scare other men away. It never feels, however, like Russell’s simply trying to lighten a potentially dark scene or mood. It’s inherent in the characters’ personalities. Russell never condescends and rarely judges (Pat more than anyone else) his characters, simply because he wants us to care about them as much as he does.

Even though he eschews the classical approach to scene construction (e.g., master shot, shot, reverse-shot, rinse, repeat), he also understands that an overly obtrusive style would detract from the story, the characters and their respective arcs, and, of course, the performances.

Visually, Russell’s style emphasizes a loose, open fluidity that subtlety reflects Pat’s precarious position mentally an emotionally. Russell doesn’t, however, sacrifice coherence for fluidity. Even though he eschews the classical approach to scene construction (e.g., master shot, shot, reverse-shot, rinse, repeat), he also understands that an overly obtrusive style would detract from the story, the characters and their respective arcs, and, of course, the performances. For better or for worse (often the later), Cooper’s been pigeonholed as the smug, self-satisfied alpha male, playing a seemingly endless stream of borderline dislikeable egotists. Cooper shows depth, range, and, more importantly, the requisite vulnerability necessary for a character like Pat. It just might portend a far more intriguing post-Hangover career for Cooper.

Already an Academy Award-nominee for Best Actress (for Winter’s Bone two years ago), Lawrence proves, as if additional proof was necessary, that she’s not a one- or two-hit wonder (if you count The Hunger Games). She imbues Tiffany, a character that could have easily slipped into caricature, with an inner life, an inner life expressed through body language, facial expressions, and intonations. Tiffany’s moments of self-awareness and self-deprecating humor that always feels grounded, always feels real, always feels genuine.

90/100 ~ AMAZING. Silver Linings Playbook is an unconventional romantic comedy-drama adapted from Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel, confirms Russell’s return to the top of his profession.

By Mel Valentin

Mel Valentin hails from the great state of New Jersey. After attending NYU undergrad (politics and economics double major, religious studies minor) and grad school (law), he made the move, physically, mentally, and spiritually to California, specifically San Francisco. Mel's written more than 1,400 film-related reviews and articles. He's a member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.