"There's always a silver lining"

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2013)

Many people claim to be bi-polar. Anytime someone seems to have a mood swing or have good days and bad days classify themselves to be bi-polar.
Meet Pat, the protagonist of "Silver Linings Playbook," a film directed by David O. Russell ("The Fighter"). Pat is a Philadelphia diagnosed bi-polar man in his mid-thirties who has just been released from a mental institute. We learn that Pat walked in on his wife cheating on him with a co-worker while listening to his wedding song (which comes up time and time again in his mind). Pat severely beat the man, and frightened his wife so much to want to be estranged from Pat. Eight months later, Pat is getting out ready to start new. He lost weight, feels a little more controlled, and is looking to get his life back in order. He is ready to find a silver lining.
Bradley Cooper plays Pat with so much intelligence and is contingent on what bi-polar behavior is. He seems well, yet he isn't. He is longing to get back together with his wife; he will not accept his friends and family telling him that she has moved on from him. He goes to the library and gets books she has on her syllabus (very amusing scene where he throws Hemingway's novel out the window), he goes running constantly, and tries to watch the Eagles on football Sunday with his father (Robert De Nero) and mother (Jacki Weaver). He is trying to better himself to a silver lining in his curved life.
Then Pat meets Tiffany (played by the amazing Jennifer Lawrence in an Oscar-worthy performance). Tiffany lives near Pat, and is a young widow whose cop-husband just recently died. You can tell this girl has some conflictions of her own, and discusses different medication used for anxiety she used. She offers Pat sex, and Pat rejects. This is strange to Tiffany, who just had sex with eleven people from the office she worked and was fired from. However, the chemistry between them shows from the start that Pat is instantly attracted to her. He doesn't want to be, since he feels his life is starting over to get back to his wife.
Pat and Tiffany begin to see each other regularly. Not on dates or associated discussions of their feelings for each other, however. Pat wants to get a letter to his wife, whom Tiffany still associates with. Tiffany wants a dance partner for a competition. The two make a deal: Pat dances for Tiffany, and she will give the letter to his wife.
Pat's therapist thinks he should have sex with Tiffany. Pat calls her out on her various partners and tries to play off what he really feels. You know he has feelings for her, but he tries so hard to not. Falling for Tiffany isn't the silver lining he has been working these past months for. Or is she? Pat's parents warm him to stay away from her, but he fights in Tiffany's defense to say he is only seeing her to get to his wife. His OCD father blames her for the loses the Eagles have whenever Pat is not present during the games on Sunday. Is Tiffany placing a burden on him or helping him? Or are they helping each other? Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have such chemistry together throughout the entire film. This is one of the best rom-com of most recent years, and is definitely the best film of 2012. The entire film consists of them strengthening each other, and finding a new silver lining to their difficult, emotionally damaged lives. The ending is nothing short of brilliance, and will leave you wanting to see it again. The screenplay is wonderful, with many memorable lines and plenty of teary-eyed dialogue. If anything, see it for Jennifer Lawrence. She is up for her second Oscar nomination at 22, and it is well-deserved. Robert De Nero plays an OCD man so well, and fits right in to this show of psychiatric patients. Nothing says OCD more than a man with set rules for remote placement on Eagles Sunday. Jacki Weaver plays a wonderful role as a mother just trying to keep her family together, and having to go through all the speed bumps of her husband and son.
You want a film you where you can laugh, cry, and connect with its characters? Go see "Silver Linings Playbook," and see what the fuss is really about.