Fly, Eagles Fly!

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2013)

I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan. One of the few in Canada, because most NFL fans here are Patriots, Bills and Packers fans. Why am I talking about the Eagles? Well they are actually a large plot point of the film. I'll get to that in a bit.
Bradley Cooper plays Pat Solitano, a man discharged from a mental institution as he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He is trying to patch things up with his family and his wife while focusing his aggression into something constructive. Cooper was excellent for the part and I think it has something to do with this film being centred in his hometown. When I think of Philadelphia, two actors come to mind: Will Smith and him. Too bad he didn't do the accent, would've loved the have heard 'dat Philly tawk yah mean?'. And he can dance, that's nice. I heard Mark Wahlberg was in talks for this role... yeah... dodged a bullet there.
Jennifer Lawrence plays Tiffany, a fellow nutcase who helps Pat find focus by involving him in her dance project. She was very good in her performance. It just keeps bugging me that she's my age. She is already and accomplished actress while I still have no clue whether or not to apply for grad school. Damn.
Robert De Niro, I love seeing him back. He plays Pat's dad, a very superstitious Eagles fan. See. He also bets on Eagles and Phillies games. This role is slightly different but still De Niro. Since he is from New York it was nice seeing him as a South Philly dad.
And it was great seeing Chris Tucker again especially in such a downplayed role. As a comedian I never thought he was funny, he was always just shrieking in his whiny register, here I actually liked him. And also the Indian guy who plays Pat's therapist, man the onslaught of Indian actors in American films continues.
I guess I liked this film a lot because it was directed by the director of Three Kings, which is actually one of my favourite films. Also this film wasn't over-dramatic it had the right balance of emotions.
Going back to the Eagles. I could tell from the beginning line that this film took place in 2008 because they were referencing DeSean Jackson dropping the ball at the 1 yard line. That was a surprisingly good season, since they went to the NFC title game for the 5th time but they lost. I hate Larry Fitzgerald for that. Because of this film I really miss Donovan McNabb as quarterback and Andy Reid. Hopefully Michael Vick and Jason Peters can recover and give us the ring we badly deserve.
Finally in all the bits involving the Birds, why couldn't they get Merrill Reese to do some voice overs?