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Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles. Directed by David O. Russell.
When someone does something outrageous and funny, is it still funny if the reason he's doing it is a mental illness? How about if everyone in the room is aware of his illness, and knows that at any moment funny can turn to violent? Based on the reactions of my fellow audience members, the answer is yes. In an early scene, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) reads Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and, frustrated by the way it ends, flings it through a closed bedroom window to the lawn outside. Needing someone to discuss his frustration with, he barges in on his sleeping parents and rails against the writer and novel.
It's funny when it's just a book and a glass window. But what if it's a person who sets him off? I found myself squirmy with discomfort and sympathy for the character, who is sure he's almost-almost-almost got his condition under control, and if the wife who has left him can only see how far he's come, he knows he will finally have it all together. If only it weren't for that restraining order. And if only people didn't keep provoking him. If only, if only, if only.
Invited to dine with friends one Sunday night, Pat is introduced to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). Tiffany's husband has recently died, and dinner conversation is awkward until Tiffany and Pat find some common ground: they've each taken several of the same medications with similar side effects. It's the beginning of a weird relationship with an uncomfortable dynamic. Tiffany isn't so much recovering from her husband's death as from the recovery process following her husband's death, her life a huge vacuum devoid of intimacy she craves. Pat agrees to be Tiffany's partner in a dance contest, possibly to help Tiffany with this vacuum. Tiffany agrees to pass along a letter from Pat to his estranged wife. They're using each other, and someone in the agreement is getting the short end of the stick, 'though at times it's difficult to tell which.
The acting in this film is really good. Cooper reminds me of a caged panther, restless and volatile when confined in small spaces (a doctor's office, his parents' living room, his friends' dining room) but somewhat more at ease when given bigger spaces with fewer people (a dance studio, the streets of his neighborhood). It's a very physical performance he gives, but it might be easy to miss the physicality because so much of his character's torment is coming from within. Lawrence, too, seems like two different characters: impatient and acidic in groups but vulnerable and sincere when alone with Pat. Sometimes when actors are forced to turn their characters' moods on a dime, they leave the audience behind with a kind of "Where did THAT come from?" effect. That doesn't happen in Silver Linings Playbook. The film does a good job of establishing these characters and the actors are great at making it work.
And both actors just look fantastic.
The one thing that doesn't quite work for me is the family dynamic, and I can't figure out why. Robert De Niro as Pat's father and Jacki Weaver as his mother give it a good shot. De Niro is better than I've seen him in a long time, but something just fits poorly in the whole family subplot.
What this film really needs is more Cooper and Lawrence, and just a little bit less of everyone else. The too-large cast of characters comes together for a fun but too-quick, too-tidy resolution that makes your heart feel good but leaves your brain slightly unsatisfied. Strong performances from the lead actors mostly forgive that, and their story is interesting enough that I'd kind of like to see another movie with the same characters, with the ending of this film as its beginning.
PS: I'd like to deduct points for an awful title, but I don't think that's really fair.
8/10 (IMDb rating)
83/100 (Criticker rating)
Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles. Directed by David O. Russell.
When someone does something outrageous and funny, is it still funny if the reason he's doing it is a mental illness? How about if everyone in the room is aware of his illness, and knows that at any moment funny can turn to violent? Based on the reactions of my fellow audience members, the answer is yes. In an early scene, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) reads Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and, frustrated by the way it ends, flings it through a closed bedroom window to the lawn outside. Needing someone to discuss his frustration with, he barges in on his sleeping parents and rails against the writer and novel.
It's funny when it's just a book and a glass window. But what if it's a person who sets him off? I found myself squirmy with discomfort and sympathy for the character, who is sure he's almost-almost-almost got his condition under control, and if the wife who has left him can only see how far he's come, he knows he will finally have it all together. If only it weren't for that restraining order. And if only people didn't keep provoking him. If only, if only, if only.
Invited to dine with friends one Sunday night, Pat is introduced to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). Tiffany's husband has recently died, and dinner conversation is awkward until Tiffany and Pat find some common ground: they've each taken several of the same medications with similar side effects. It's the beginning of a weird relationship with an uncomfortable dynamic. Tiffany isn't so much recovering from her husband's death as from the recovery process following her husband's death, her life a huge vacuum devoid of intimacy she craves. Pat agrees to be Tiffany's partner in a dance contest, possibly to help Tiffany with this vacuum. Tiffany agrees to pass along a letter from Pat to his estranged wife. They're using each other, and someone in the agreement is getting the short end of the stick, 'though at times it's difficult to tell which.
The acting in this film is really good. Cooper reminds me of a caged panther, restless and volatile when confined in small spaces (a doctor's office, his parents' living room, his friends' dining room) but somewhat more at ease when given bigger spaces with fewer people (a dance studio, the streets of his neighborhood). It's a very physical performance he gives, but it might be easy to miss the physicality because so much of his character's torment is coming from within. Lawrence, too, seems like two different characters: impatient and acidic in groups but vulnerable and sincere when alone with Pat. Sometimes when actors are forced to turn their characters' moods on a dime, they leave the audience behind with a kind of "Where did THAT come from?" effect. That doesn't happen in Silver Linings Playbook. The film does a good job of establishing these characters and the actors are great at making it work.
And both actors just look fantastic.
The one thing that doesn't quite work for me is the family dynamic, and I can't figure out why. Robert De Niro as Pat's father and Jacki Weaver as his mother give it a good shot. De Niro is better than I've seen him in a long time, but something just fits poorly in the whole family subplot.
What this film really needs is more Cooper and Lawrence, and just a little bit less of everyone else. The too-large cast of characters comes together for a fun but too-quick, too-tidy resolution that makes your heart feel good but leaves your brain slightly unsatisfied. Strong performances from the lead actors mostly forgive that, and their story is interesting enough that I'd kind of like to see another movie with the same characters, with the ending of this film as its beginning.
PS: I'd like to deduct points for an awful title, but I don't think that's really fair.
8/10 (IMDb rating)
83/100 (Criticker rating)