After the awards wins and mentions, we knew we had to review this one by hook or by crook. Why, the cast alone (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro) was enough to win us over.
So, “Silver Linings Playbook” really is somewhat like a romantic comedy. As in, the story line does involve some couple falling in love with each other. Unlike any other ordinary Hollywood “boy meets girl, roses, chocolates, fall in love, happily ever after” love story, this one comes with some mental health issues. Pat Solitano Jr. (played by Bradley Cooper) has bipolar disorder whereas Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is also battling her own demons.
Pat is trying to sort out his life and trying to get back with his wife while Tiffany is still fresh out of mourning the loss of her husband. They both lead the lives of the average neurotic people but as fate would have it, they find each other and with each other’s help plus a whole lot of dancing, they get back on the track of normalcy.
And as you would expect, they fall in love, in a very oddly dark but irritatingly sweet way. Oh, and of course, Robert De Niro plays Pat’s football-obsessed father. He’s a little neurotic too albeit not medically diagnosed.
One can kinda gauge where Pat Jr. gets his strain of mental health disorder from.
“Silver Linings Playbook” both cute and engaging with topnotch performances from both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. It’s no surprise that they’ve managed to rack up eight Oscar nominations, four Golden Globe Award nominations (with Jennifer Lawrence bagging “Best Actress”), four SAG nominations (again, with Jennifer Lawrence bagging “Best Actress”) and more. David O. Russell (Oscar “Best Director” nominee) fully deserves a mention as much as the rest of the cast does. Perhaps a mention of a higher honour because he did, after all, cast not just actors but true performers who got their characters down pat near perfect.
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Also, if you looked closely enough, you’ll see Julia Stiles lurking around in some scenes. We say “lurking” but what we really mean is that she plays Jennifer Lawrence’s sister.
We didn’t think that we’d ever be able to see Bradley Cooper in that kind of light (read: walking, ticking time bomb) or see Jennifer Lawrence beyond just being “Katniss Everdeen”. Jennifer Lawrence is more often than not rude, brash, loud (why is she always yelling?), and temperamental throughout the entire length of “Silver Linings Playbook”. But she is also vulnerable.
Both leads surprised us till no end with their astounding performances:
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Worth watching? We say, “Hell yeah!”
For more information, visit the movie’s official website.
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