 |
| Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper |
Director: David O'Russell
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver
Genre(s): Comedy; Drama; Romance
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Silver Linings Playbook is one of those rare romantic dramedies that sidesteps hackneyed plots and been-there-done-that subplots, and instead opts for a story that focuses on real, relatable characters and avoids using characters that are too perfect or not flawed enough to be believable. After all, humans are flawed, and audiences often gravitate towards films with characters with whom they can empathize; although the two leads in Silver Linings are perhaps more flawed than are most people, these flaws draws them together and make us root for them from the very beginning. David O'Russell (The Fighter) is one of those gifted flmmakers that takes challenging source material -- it is the adaptation of Matthew Quick's novel of the same name -- and makes it into an enjoyable, and at times heartbreaking, comedy-drama of the caliber of director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants).
In Silver Linings, Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) plays a man with bi-polar disorder who has been recently released from a sort of rehab, following an incident -- which he eventually describes to his psychiatrist with a combination of regret and horror -- that had him placed there. He moves back in with his parents: his football-obsessed, once-absent father (Oscar winner Robert DeNiro); and his caring, slightly overprotective mother (Animal Kingdom's Jacki Weaver). He seems to be readjusting to normal life fairly well, although he is desperate to win back his estranged wife's affection. He ends up enlisting the help of a similarly dysfunctional individual, played by Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games), whose husband recently died.
Of course, there are bits and pieces of the plot that any viewer could predict, but what is so magnificent about Silver Linings is that we do not care about that. This is because, as Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwartzbaum so accurately noted, parts of the movie "catch the viewer by surprise," which is an oddity for romantic dramedies. The viewer does not quite know what to expect next, which goes along with the movie's ability to maintain a delicate balance between comedy and drama -- a feat which many scripts struggle to match -- and dips its toes into both genres.
Silver Linings is most definitely deserving of its four acting Oscar nominations, for Cooper, Lawrence, DeNiro, and Weaver. All except Cooper are previous nominees, and here the comedy staple proves that he is much more than People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." He manages to make his character likable enough for us to empathize with his troubles, even though he has made horrific mistakes. There is one excellent scene in which he awakens his parents in the middle of the night to vent about not being able to find his wedding video, and it is remarkable how many emotions Cooper is able to [simultaneously] convey. If Daniel-Day Lewis (Lincoln) were not in the picture, I would place all my bets on Cooper for Best Actor.
Lawrence, who was previously nominated two years ago for her role in Winter's Bone, is currently tied for front-runner Best Actress status with Zero Dark Thirty's Jessica Chastain. If Lawrence wins, I will not be upset at all: she is dynamite in this role, which would be difficult for any actress. While her performance in Winter's Bone was more subdued, here she takes on a showier role; her scenes with Cooper, in particular, are breathtaking in their authenticity of emotions.
How great it is to see DeNiro back at the top of his game, and no longer playing unusual stereotypes of himself (see Meet the Fockers, Little Fockers, etc.). I was not expecting his performance to be so deeply heartfelt as it is, and that is a good thing. Weaver, an Australian actress, is terrific, as are the various supporting players who supplement the four Oscar-nominated performance.
Silver Linings is a nearly flawless film about two mentally unbalanced, depressed individuals, that just so happens to be hilarious, at times. Russell is very adept at finding humor in even the most difficult subjects.
Grade: A
Comments
Post a Comment