The Emperor's New Clothes

Rating: 4/10 (24 November 2013)

Against medical advice, Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health facility into the care of his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and father Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) after eight months of minimum court mandated treatment for bipolar disorder. Pat soon learns that his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), has moved away and his father is out of work and resorting to illegal bookmaking to earn money to start a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki, who obtained a restraining order against him after a violent episode where he beat her lover to near death. At a dinner setup with his friend Ronnie (John Ortiz), he meets Ronnie's sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recent widow who just lost her job. Pat and Tiffany develop an odd relationship through their shared neuroses, and he sees an opportunity to communicate with Nikki through her.
I so wanted to love this movie, but it turned out to be nothing more than a case of the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome. The story doesn't have one iota of surprise and painfully follows the clichéd romantic playbook to a tee. Just imagine this movie with a woman playing Bradley Cooper's character in the same style. This movie is being praised simply because its a romantic drama told from the man's point of view and he ultimately gets his young, hot girl after a bunch of pointless, heightened stakes which is supposed to develop their characters somehow. The best part is the beginning which was really strong and after that, it all spiralled down into mediocrity. Why would you want to introduce your bipolar friend who just came out of a mental institution to your wife's sister who herself was completely nuts due to the death of her husband!
I like Lawrence and it wasn't her fault for the way her character oscillated between shrill shouting and constantly being on the verge of tears. The character was terribly written and the Oscar she got was completely undeserved, along with being in the wrong category to boot. Hers was clearly a supporting role. But hey, she's the new darling of Hollywood. The rest of the nominations are also flabbergasting since they are all mediocre across the board, though De Niro rose above the tepid writing. I do not even want to talk about the portrayal of people with disorder here, but you gotta hand it to Weinstein though, he makes great award campaigns. Generic, contrived and a mediocre melodrama with a faux happy ending.
4/10