Truly fantastic

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2013)

I had been anticipating Silver Linings Playbook very much for a good while now, although I wasn't entirely sure I should be. It does look like some sort of romantic dramedy, and while the genre can work well many times, it's also not a genre that does anything particularly amazing for me. And while I liked Russell's The Fighter a good amount (his only other film I've seen) it's also the sort of film that quickly fades from memory. So I can't say how well I'll like a film like this as time goes by, but for now, I'm in love.
I never saw a trailer for this. I only saw a clip between Pat and Tiffany at the dinner table with another couple (who I now know is Pat's friend and Tiffany's sister), and the clip hugely impressed me. I loved Lawrence in Winter's Bone, but this just seemed like such a huge step for her. And then there was Bradley Cooper, making a large impression in the short two-minute clip that I was completely shocked. Who knew the guy from The Hangover could do so much in such a small clip? So for them I definitely had high expectations, just based on two minutes. And they certainly didn't disappoint in any way, shape or form. There have been some great duos in 2012, but no two actors electrify the screen together as much as Cooper and Lawrence. They bounce off each other magically, making me long for more recent films with a central relationship as dynamic and as charismatic as this. Lawrence nails every single second of her character. There's a real energy to her, you just can't look away. People have wondered whether this is just a really large supporting role. Here's the thing. When you look at cinema's history you see a lot of roles considered "leading" that are sometimes really large secondary characters to a more prominent lead. A great example is Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. But the reason he is ultimately seen as lead alongside Leigh is because of the amount of power he brings to the screen and for the fact that he brings to the film the type of spark that not everyone can achieve, and as a result the relationship between Blanche Dubois and Stanley is the central power to the film. The same goes for Lawrence here. Whatever she is in terms of category, she gives the best female performance of 2012. I say that without hesitation, and I truly hope she wins the Oscar over the also-great Chastain or Riva.
I wanted to talk about Lawrence before Cooper because, as it is, it's the performance with the most notices. But Cooper is just as equally magnificent and radiant, demonstrating a true talent for handling something as dramatic and comedic as this. He drives the film in ways no other actor of the year besides Jackman in Les Miserables did. But despite being the main lead of the film, his role is perhaps not as showy as Lawrence's. The role requires for a true navigation between many different emotional arcs that should drive the film in a clear and empathetic way. Cooper finds the perfect balance and as a result it's one of the easiest characters to sympathize and connect with in recent years.
The rest of the cast is strong, and De Niro and Weaver both do great in their roles. As is the case, I'm not sure why people are too upset about Weaver, especially when De Niro was seen as a strong, strong possibility for an Oscar nom for several weeks now and yet doesn't have all that much more to do than her. Based on reactions to the Oscar nods, I expected Weaver to be in it for very few scenes. She's more prominent than that for sure. The ending also worked brilliantly for me, but this is the type of ending that I could see perhaps weakening or making the film stronger when I reflect back on it later on. Ultimately, this is a very strong film and among the best of 2012.