The best film of the year!

Rating: 10/10 (28 November 2012)

David Mamet blew me away with The Fighter. What looked like a generic sports drama from the trailers was really an intricate, overly entertaining, emotionally resonant character piece. I'm not sure how this came across in the trailers to me but there is no way it came across as brilliant there as the actual film is. Silver Linings like the fighter is an intricate character piece but even more evolved that film. It tackles complex, off the wall characters and story elements and combines them into a wonderfully unpredictable and emotionally endearing grade A cinematic stew. The film tells the story of a man named Pat (Cooper) who after an 8 month stint in a mental institution is released under his mothers care. You see he had a break because he found his wife cheating on him and was suffering from an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Along comes Tiffany (Lawrence) a young woman who has just lost her husband and is living with a variety of personality disorders. They meet a rom com storyline forms but doesn't move in the way you'd expect. This is a film about damaged, imperfect people. People everyone of us can relate to if we are honest. There are scenes of such emotional vigor and astonishing rawness it's hard to tell you're even watching something that has been orchestrated. Bradley Cooper sheds his Hollywood image and opts for an intensely brave and personal performance. Jennifer Lawrence shows up reminding us why she was nominated for an Oscar for Winter's Bone. Her character Tiffany is so fully realized through her performance it's hard to put in words. It's so real and unhinged it hurts to watch. Robert DeBiro stars as Pat's father in his best performance in years he displays the emotional complexities of his character his slight OCD, the longing for a relationship with his son and the fear he feels about it. Jackie Weaver is also really amazing as Pat's Mom so maternal and not in a scary way like her other mesmerizing performance in Animal Kingdom. Chris Tucker even shows up for some light hearted fun, some of his best work ever. Also I would love to spotlight the inspired cinematography the constant tracking shots really freshened up the events and kept things feeling new. The thing about this film is that it's not perfect. But it's about those imperfections who make us who we are and form the relationships and experiences we have. It's an honest, funny, hilarious, endearing and memorable film. The best I've seen this year and one of the best ever! *****/5