Somewhat Uncomfortable to Watch

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2013)

First you may wonder why I have given a movie a 10 that was uncomfortable to watch, let me explain. Both Bradley Cooper's acting and the writing for this part was "dead center perfect". I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder about 25 years ago now, and have taken every drug mentioned in the movie at one time or another. So this movie had a very direct connection for me. It was uncomfortable for me because in some of the scenes I could very clearly see myself. Also the drugs do take a while for your body to get adjusted to, and do make you feel fuzzy until they do. The compulsion to find his wedding video was another scene that made me cringe a little because of the pain that Pat (Bradley Cooper) feels and the exasperation that his parents feel while trying to deal with him.
Now on to the movie, the dialogs were "real" I mean really real not movie real, those same discussions that Pat has with his Dad (Robert Dinero) have probably occurred in more living rooms across the country than one could even imagine. I think this is the most acting Dinero has done in a long, long time. Most of his movies these days are played way over the top often for comedic effect. This role he plays just right, he's not a perfect dad nor is he bad Dad. Like most Dads he is struggling to understand his son, who doesn't even understand himself.
In case you've been living under a rock or don't get out much, Jennifer Lawrence is the "real deal". She is the next big thing in Hollywood. She was very good in The Hunger Games, but she really gets to stretch her acting muscles in this role. Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) is a deeply flawed person, you get to witness this in her first scene in the movie. The way she peels away the layers of herself mostly in soul bearing scenes with Bradley Cooper.
This movie will probably not do well at the box office, because not one person gets his head chopped off, no cars turn into robots, and not a single person is tortured with a drill to the eye. If you want to see a movie that strikes a chord as being about something real, and characters that by the end of the movie you will find yourself deeply invested in, then do yourself a favor and see this movie.