Silver Linings Playbook

Let me start off by saying that I cant stand Bradley Cooper! There’s a reason why he only gets roles playing jackasses like (ball) Sack Lodge in Wedding Crashers, (Dick) Peter in Yes Man, Ben (a cheating scrub) in Not That Into You, or Phil (on deez nuts) in Hangover.  And let’s not forget his own personal wet dream of Limitless where he takes a pill and everyone finally catches on to what he’s always has believed to be true; him being the smartest and best looking guy on the planet.  Now I will admit that some of this may be jealousy but I don’t want to pay money to see some frat guy try and act on screen. Mcconaughey is frat boy but at least he knows he’s dumb and all he really wants to do is get stoned and bang girls. My kind of dude. So needless to say, I almost passed up on Silver Linings Playbook because Cooper was starring in it, playing a jackass, and looked to be wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jersey for most of the movie.  He was not only wearing the team I hate the most but also their douchiest player’s jersey in Desean Jackson, which is kind of fitting really. 

But Jennifer Lawrence is also in it and the fact that she is looking like a full on adult these days made it a bit easier to justify spending my money and time. Plus it looks like David O. Russell is back to working regularly after dropping good but not great movies in Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. 

This movie is point blankly about crazy people. There is something wrong with almost every character you are introduced to; most notably Pat (Cooper) and Tiffany (Lawrence). Pat is dealing with his bi-polar disorder which seemed to fully manifest itself after he caught his wife cheating on him with a co worker. He went nuts and beat the man half to death but he is now out of the mental institution trying to re acclimate himself into normal society by utilizing his new “find a silver lining in everything” playbook which he believes will help him get his wife back. He is invited to dinner one night by his friends and this is where he meets Tiffany whose husband recently died and now she’s going through her own issues of sleeping with every man she meets trying to cope with it. They form an unusual and unlikely friendship as Tiffany agrees to help Pat try and get his wife back if he helps her with something of her own. Sadly for us guys, it’s not what you think but you do get to see Lawrence and her awesome body on full display the entire movie. 

Bob Deniro is great as Pat Sr, the superstitious avid eagles fan, bookie, and father of Pat. Everything he says or does revolves around the eagles winning or his betting on the game.  Every sports fan can relate to him because we all have our weird superstitions or make stupid side bets on the game. And some pretty important stuff is put on the line in this movie by a parlay bet (a bet where you have to win every bet made in order to win money) between Pat Sr and his best friend. This leads to some of the funnier moments in the movie. Once you get over the fact that Cooper is in it, you see that he actually does a decent job; as does everyone who is a part of this film. Russell and his co writer do an excellent job of revealing what’s behind Pat’s and Tiffany’s issues and both Cooper and Lawrence give you sufficient evidence to support how truly crazy they are. 

This is yet another dramedy that actually works. Every time things seem to get a bit heavy, the comedy kicks back in allows you to enjoy it and laugh at the character’s issues. It runs a little long and Russell could’ve cut out his commentary on Hemingway but overall this movie is pretty FRESH! Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to write the alternate ending to The Hunger Games which will include the cream baths the original should have had.
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