Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2012)

There is a certain type of manic energy that drives the films of Writer/Director David O. Russell (The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees). His films tend to feature ensembles of flawed but lovable characters struggling to piece their lives together while coping with various familial stresses, chemical dependencies and existential meltdowns. Russell's newest film, Silver Linings Playbook, continues this trend by tackling mental illness with a degree of honesty and warmth rarely seen in Hollywood films.
Bradley Cooper (Limitless, The Hangover) stars as Pat Solitano, a volatile, bi-polar ticking time bomb prone to violent outbursts, serving 8 months of court-ordered time in a mental hospital for assaulting his wife's lover. Early on we see Pat get released, almost surely before he is ready, and begin to pick up the pieces while living in his parents (Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver) attic. It's clear to the audience that mental illness runs in the Solitano family after meeting Pat's father, an undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive wreck with severe anger management and gambling issues. Driven by delusion and a new optimistic outlook, Pat embarks on a seemingly endless quest to win back the heart of his wife, despite the restraining order she has placed on him.
From the start, Pat is portrayed as a filter less social pariah, instantly alienating (if not terrifying) everyone he comes into contact with. That is until he meets Tiffany, a mysterious, young widow played by Jennifer Lawrence. Like Pat, Tiffany is wild, capricious and damaged to the core. Though their initial meetings go horribly, the two eventually connect and form a shaky, co-dependent alliance. Discovering a loophole in his restraining order, Pat enlists Tiffany to deliver a letter to his wife. She agrees under the condition that he participates in a dance competition as her partner. As they begin to spend more time together, the two grow closer and Pat's behavior becomes less erratic. Cooper is fantastic as Pat, combining his natural comic ability with a dramatic awareness previously unseen in his prior films. Nevertheless, it's Lawrence who ultimately shines brightest. In Tiffany, she has created a complex character bursting with comedic energy, sexiness, intrigue and melancholy.
Perhaps the Russell's greatest achievement is how genuine and natural Silver Linings Playbook feels. Like its characters, the film's tone is skittish and unpredictable, seamlessly blending flashes of uproarious humor with weighty emotional moments that never seem to ring false. While it's certainly not a conventional RomCom, Silver Linings Playbook is unable to fully escape the trappings of the genre. In an instance of uncharacteristic insincerity, there is a bizarre scene in which Russell makes light of the compulsive behavior of one of his characters in order to propel the film towards a predictable yet satisfying conclusion. It's a minor blip in an otherwise memorable effort.