Tiffany and Pat, two volatile people

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2013)

Watching Silver Linings Playbook tonight I got the feeling that the parts of the film good as they are did not add up to a perfect whole. Still the film has a lot to recommend it. After all it did get eight Oscar nominations from last year including one each in all the acting categories. And an Oscar for Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress.
Bradley Cooper, nominated for Best Actor plays a husband who just did a stint in a mental hospital for beating the living daylights out of his wife's lover. All three were teachers at the same high school in South Philadelphia and that must have had the faculty and students gossiping for a year.
Jacki Weaver and Robert DeNiro play Cooper's parents and both were nominated in the Supporting players category for both sexes. Weaver had her son released in her custody without telling DeNiro who accepts the situation for peace at home. He's got his own issues, he's a degenerate gambler who drives Weaver to wit's end.
Some friends try to fix up Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence on the theory that two volatile people could help heal each other. Lawrence's issues stem from the death of her husband a Philadelphia cop. Although there is an attraction for them, both their joint volatility and Cooper's refusal to give up trying to win back his wife are obstacles.
All those things plus DeNiro's gambling habit combine in one interesting climax where the growing relationship of Cooper and Lawrence plus DeNiro's finances are on the line. I dare not say more.
Some nice location cinematography also distinguishes Silver Linings Playbook. Having visited Philadelphia a few times I recognized quite a bit of it. We get to see quite a bit of South Philadelphia where it seems everyone knows everyone and everyone's business.
Both Cooper and Lawrence come across as decent and three dimensional people trying to cope as best they can with mental illness. Lawrence just lights up the screen with her performance. I didn't see the other nominated roles, but they would have had to go some to beat her out for the Oscar and apparently didn't.
My main criticism of an otherwise fine film is that I see no silver linings for either main character. They'll have to do a lot to make the relationship work if they can.
Still Silver Linings Playbook is a wonderful film deservedly honored with all those nominations and Jennifer Lawrence's Oscar.