Silver Linings Playbook
Written and Directed by David O. Russell (based on the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, Chris Tucker, John Ortiz, Julia Stiles
122 minutes, rated 'R' for profanity and sexually suggestive language
Silver Linings Playbook is one of the most nominated films for this year's Academy Awards ceremony, and for good reason. The film is a poignant drama without being a manipulative tearjerker, a comedy that doesn't ignore the serious problems that its main characters have, a romance with excellent lead chemistry, and has a well-earned conclusion. In reality, the film shouldn't have "dramedy" or any label on it. It's just high-level film making from David O. Russell with a plot that serves the characters and defies categorization, in many ways like his previous movie, The Fighter.
Pat (Bradley Cooper) has recently been released from a mental institution after a violent outburst on his estranged wife and her lover. Now living with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver), he is invited to a small dinner party thrown by his buddy Ronnie (John Ortiz) and Ronnie's wife, the uptight and rightfully nervous friend of Pat's wife, Veronica (an amusing cameo turn by Julia Stiles). Another guest is the almost equally troubled family black sheep, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who is highly promiscuous and likely to say anything in any setting.
What follows could have been played as broad comedy or Lifetime Movie of the Week doomed romance, but instead takes off on an often unpredictable path. It includes meetings with Pat's therapist (Anupam Kher); meeting up with Pat's former institution roomie, the neurotic Danny (Chris Tucker, about as low-key as Tucker can get); and explorations of love, loss, moving on with one's life, and seizing opportunities without pounding those points with a sledgehammer.
The acting ensemble is uniformly good, including Cooper, a Best Actor nominee, but Lawrence and De Niro are Oscar worthy as the vividly alive and foul-mouthed Tiffany and the long-suffering yet passively aggressive Pat Sr. Russell writes several showpiece scenes for his actors, including an unusual, funny, and troubling Halloween date for Pat and Tiffany, and a showstopping showdown between Tiffany and Pat Sr.
For this year's Oscar contenders, Silver Linings Playbook may not take home the ultimate Best Picture prize, but it may hold up as one of 2012's contributions to the cinematic art form.
Rating: **** out of ****
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