If you want a movie that makes you think, laugh, cry,
cringe, or sigh in relief, this is the movie for you. The Silver Linings Playbook is the story of Pat Solatano’s (Bradley
Cooper)road to becoming a better person. After spending eight months in a state institution on a plea
bargain after running into some trouble, he lost all constant things in his
life. While struggling with a
mental illness, crucial things like his marriage, job, and family support are
gone from his life. He reluctantly gets a second chance at one of those things
to start him off on the right foot. His loving, yet superstitious parents come
around first to lend a helping hand and start his new life.
The movie is based off The Silver Linings Playbook written by Matthew Quick. Quick wrote the majority of the novel while living in his in-laws basement in central Massachusetts, while coping with depression. “At the time when I was at home in Holden with my in-laws writing in their basement I felt very much the same way.” David O Russell, who also directed, wrote the film’s screenplay. He did not hold back the small details that let the audience glimpse inside the protagonists mind during the battle with his bipolar mental disorder. It makes you feel in every piece of your body just how Pat is feeling. Although there is no guessing his emotions, there are a few plot twists in the film that keep you wondering and keep you on your toes.
With nowhere
else to go, Pat moves back into his parent’s house and immediately struggles
adjusting to everyday life. He has
one goal that keeps him focused, and that is restoring his marriage that
crumbled to the ground because of his mental illness and her unfaithfulness,
but Pat still tries to find the silver lining in every situation. Pat Sr (Robert De Niro),
his father, thinks they should share the same focus, which is the Philadelphia
Eagles. His fathers dream is to
open a restaurant and his idea was to get the money for it by betting on the
Eagles football game every week.
Pat Sr. is always conscientious of the Eagles “juju” and very
superstitious of the placement of the remote controls, what he’s wearing, and
every aspect of possible good luck habits that could win him his bets. Pats
mother, played by Jacki Weaver, just tried to keep stability in her house,
keeping Pat healthy and on the right track, and her husband happy by supporting
him in his Eagle football bets.
Pat
focuses on his physical health to balance out his mental health, and also to
get his physic back to impress his wife.
Along the way he meets Tiffany, (Jennifer Lawrence) a set up from a
friend, because she too, is also dealing with mental health issues. Pat believes Tiffany is the key to
getting his life back to how he wants, and she ultimately is, but not in the
way he thinks she is.
In
the end, The Silver Linings Playbook is a heartfelt, hilarious movie that keeps
you on your toes from beginning to end.
The film was strongly recognized by the Academy this year coming away
with 8 nominations, and one win. Jennifer
Lawrence won the Best Actress award for her role as Pat’s crazy companion,
Tiffany. Wearing a large ballgown
the night of the awards, when she won she took a tumble up the stairs, which is
small mishap that no one will forget.
But along with it, no one will ever forget that she won that award for
her outstanding performance in the Silver Linings Playbook.
