By Spence Blazak
The romantic comedy is a genre that has followed a
relatively simple formula over its life. Guy meets girl, thousands of reasons
present themselves as to why they should never be together, and then they get
together. When it comes to rom-coms, the devil is truly in the details. Silver Linings Playbook is a breath of
fresh air, but still falls short of genre transcending glory.
The movie follows Pat (Bradley Cooper, The Hangover), a man who has spent the last 8 months in a mental
hospital after having a psychotic episode caused by walking in on his wife
cheating on him. Back in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pat tries to pick up the
pieces of his life for the sole purpose of winning his wife back. As he tries
to reconnect with his friends, Pat is introduced to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence,
The Hunger Games) a nymphomaniac also
dealing with mental issues that he hopes will be the key to rekindling his
marriage.
Silver Linings
Playbook plays to its strengths for the majority of the film, focusing on
its strong performances, witty script, and detailed direction. The film shows a
coming out for Bradley Cooper, who finally shows that he can do more than just
act in d-bag roles. His portrayal of a man with bipolar disorder works because
it is cemented in believability. In “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the
mental patients seem like maniacs, whereas Cooper’s just seems like a regular
guy who is a little off and loses it sometimes. The fine-tuning of the
performance is impressive down to the way Cooper carries himself, which is as
though he is an edgy, unattractive sad sack. This is especially impressive for
a former “Sexiest Man Alive” winner, making himself regular with nothing more
than a slouch and awkward body language.
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert DeNiro (who plays Pat’s father)
are also impressive, being funny when they need to be and crying when they
must. DeNiro rises above his performances from the last decade where he was
just a caricature of himself, and Lawrence rises to the occasion of a convincing
mental illness sufferer.
Director David O. Russell is coming off of his hit The Fighter and does a very detailed job
with his work on his latest. Quick cuts during Pat’s episodes create a frantic
mood, and he captures the necessary ambience with each scene and setting. The
film’s setting among the hubbub of Philadelphia Eagles fans is a brilliant choice;
with the unrest and perpetual ups-and-downs peppered with terrible luck being a
nice motif for the characters.
Russell also penned the script and does a good job of
keeping it ping-pong paced, as well as making it, you know, actually funny. The
script also leaves enough of the characters’ backgrounds foggy to keep you
glued to the screen, but sadly a lot of these reveals turn out to be a bit
underwhelming.
Silver Linings
Playbook falters most in its ending. A film about mental illness,
obsession, and inability to deal with real life stresses shouldn’t wind up with
a painfully fairytale ending. A more appropriate conclusion would have been as
off-beat and quirky as the rest of the film, rather than just a cop out and
deviation of tone. In this way, it was very similar to last year’s Crazy Stupid Love. It also uses the
crutch of genre clichés where it didn’t have to, soaring in some scenes before
limping with moments of predictability in the next. Silver Linings Playbook is definitely worth a watch, but falls
short of true greatness because it doesn’t stay true to itself throughout.
If Crazy Stupid Love is
a three star-er, I’d give Silver Linings
Playbook about 3.25. Definitely better, but still falls a little short of
the golden four-star standard of Groundhog
Day.
