Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Set a Goal! Find Your Silver Lining!

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2012)

Released to worldwide critical acclaim, and tons of supposed Oscar buzz, "Silver Linings Playbook" is the film adaptation of the highly successful novel of the same name. Director David O. Russell from "The Fighter" has taken the liberty of becoming the man in charge of taking this one story and treating it with plenty of care. But, thanks to a beautiful script and a super-talented cast, "Silver Linings Playbook" is the most memorable movie-going experience I've had all year. Bradley Cooper delivers probably the best performance of his entire career playing Pat, a young man with a huge case of bipolar disorder, who has just been released from a mental institution after suffering a major breakdown when noticing his ex-wife in the shower with another man. That's not really a spoiler, because it was seen in the trailer, but for now, better safe than sorry! Now, that he has returned home, he now wants to make changes in his life. He's now moved back in with his parents, played respectively by Robert de Niro and Jacki Weaver, and tries to fit in within his neighborhood. He has decided to set out and make new goals, especially one in particular, trying to reconcile with his ex-wife. But he then runs into Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a young woman whom also is having serious troubles of her own, after the recent death of her husband, and similar to Pat, is also a little crazy. While trying to spend time with his family, and helping Tiffany rehearse for a ballroom dance competition, Pat shares this unlikely bond with this girl, and maybe a certain and strange romance will soon occur. "Silver Linings Playbook" is one of the best movies of the year, if not, the best. This is a beautifully realistic and heartfelt film that will relate to anyone, unlike anything I have seen in such a long time. David O. Russell both wrote and directed this film, and you can obviously tell that this man cares more about the people in his films, and less about the subject matter. He knows how to make the characters so believable, and gives the audience a chance to feel so much sympathy for these people. Also, the script delivers some of the most well-written realistic dialogue ever put on the silver screen. This is one of the best directed films of the year, and David O. Russell will probably score both a Best Director and Best Screenplay nomination respectively. Bradley Cooper absolutely delivers an Oscar-worthy performance, and if he ends up getting a Best Actor nomination, it would be great if he actually won, which will probably not happen, but it should. This actor has proved that besides comedies, he can also do dramatic roles very well. Cooper can actually act, and do these dramatic movies really well. It's that broken-down character, hoping to make things better for himself, that Cooper does a great job at portraying. Another Oscar-worthy performance in this movie comes from the one and only Robert de Niro, playing Pat's father, a man with dreams of opening a new restaurant, and has a huge obsession for the Philadelphia Eagles football team. It's so great to see one of the greatest actors of all time back on the screen in a good movie, and delivers the role with such perfection, definitely worthy of a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Although Jacki Weaver, as Pat's mother, and Chris Tucker, as Pat's best friend, each deliver terrific supporting performances respectively, it's all about Jennifer Lawrence as the female lead. After her work in "Winter's Bone" and "The Hunger Games", Lawrence has become one of the most promising actresses of our century, delivering a powerful scene-stealing performance, worthy of a Best Actress nomination. Lawrence and Cooper, respectively, share electrifying chemistry between each other, and I was able to believe in the bond that these two people shared. It was so great to watch these two actors together. The movie delivers every single human emotion you can think of. There's a really funny side to the film that will make you laugh, a dramatic side that will make you think, and overall, it just warms your heart in some way. If a movie is able to affect me so much, yet make me feel good at the same time, it's a great movie to me! Beautifully directed, fantastically written, incredibly acted, heartwarming, realistic, and intriguing, "Silver Linings Playbook" is my new favorite movie of the year, and I won't be surprised if the film is able to score a Best Picture nomination. "Silver Linings Playbook", in my review, "a funny, realistic, emotional, and heartwarming motion picture".