Mama weer all crazee now. 72.5+%

Rating: 7/10 (25 February 2013)

This is a very odd, unconventional movie. It's about a man, Pat (played by Bradley Cooper. Cooper seems familiar to me from somewhere...), who is released from a mental institution and who tries to win back the affections of his wife...but she has a restraining order on him! Pat had an undiagnosed mental condition which makes him violent, hence his wife's restraining order. We don't really see much of the wife in this movie. Pat is put into the path of Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence), another damaged personality who also has had dealings with the medical fraternity over her mental health issues.
Here's why this movie is so odd and unconventional...Pat is a very unlikeable fellow. It's hard to root for him, hence my lower score. If Cooper was going for a very unlikeable portrayal of a damaged man, then I suppose Oscar recognition is not out of the question. Pat is clueless as far as his interactions with people is concerned and he also lacks self-awareness. Jennifer Lawrence is very sexy in her role (in a Meg Tilly kind of way...but more so) but she isn't a conventional leading lady either. It's hard to imagine what Tiffany sees in Pat...perhaps it's just a case of beautiful people being attracted to each other, even though they may be abrasive personalities (to say the least, especially of Pat)? Lawrence puts together a very strong performance and deserves her Oscar for best actress (I still prefer Naomi Watt's turn in "The impossible" though, for drawing out powerful emotions from the viewer).
I've bumped up my score (and maybe could have given it 75%, say) for the end game of the movie. The leading characters warm, as does the movie, as they/it become more conventional in a rom-com kind of way...you do start to root for the characters. So, eventually, this does turn into a date movie.
Robert De Niro as Pat's father (Pat Sr.) is 'interesting'...you can see that Pat Jr. did inherit some of his genes from him! Jacki Weaver as Pat Jr's mother Dolores has some emoting early on in the movie and does give the occasional arch look. Her accent was good (Australians are better at American accents than Americans are at Australian accents)...I don't think she ever lost the accent but maybe once it seemed to lose its flavour. Have heard in the media (perhaps in Australia) that she was nominated for an Oscar in this movie for her performance in the great Australian movie "Animal kingdom"...which is the way of Hollywood. Chris Tucker as a fellow crazy of Pat the younger is sort of a running gag in this movie.
Did find some of the early shots in the movie rather awkward...a bit too self- conscious...perhaps with Weaver, especially.
Two of the subplots in this movie were rather odd too...a business sideline of Pat Sr. as well as a "Strictly ballroom" kind of turn (the Australian movie).
Even when the leading actors were being abrasive (early on, especially), there was still much humour to be had in this movie.