Cooper Flew Over DeNiro's Nest...

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2013)

I'm not a fan of romantic movies. In fact, I recently bad-reviewed Bradley Cooper's "The Words" for the plot lacking thing those awesome actors did not so long ago.
But then I saw Silver Linings Playbook. And it's so darn difficult to review! I have the feeling this is a very good movie in the genre, but I can hardly describe why.
I saw that tandem (Deniro and Cooper) on an action flick about mindbroading drugs and all that stuff . I didn't like it, really, but seems this subject is to be exploited by the guys involved in this film.
Bradley Cooper took a step forward in his career and made a nutcracking role. Not easy to pretend to be a bipolar if you're not one, though towards the end, he seems to control his temper more easy than I would 've thought, and that's the only flaw I can tell.
Jennifer Lawrence is a shocking and beautiful girl who captived my attention all the movie through, and that's not easy for me to say. Not that I am a misoginist or something like that, but I often don't give too much credit on young girls on important roles. They tend to ruin all the prospect. But this is not the case. I love her, I definitely love her (hope my wife doesn't read this review). She's perfect.
I mean, it resembled me a little to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, may be a tribute somewhere there. You know, the loonies on the path who are tough enough to face society and prejudices, the ones who are diminished by others and they point the finger on us, on things what we consider "normality" and how sometimes you have to be very very special to fulfill a dream, or if not, to be clever enough to get yourself up together and do things right. Every member of Pat's family has an issue. Selfishness, tolerance, fanatism, pedanticism, quirk, pressures, ingenuity, obsessions, etc. A good point on the script is to vanish the psychiatry issue, and picture them as virtues somehow, instead of negative human qualities.
So this is about redemption, this is about love, and this is about little pathos thing we all have and how we handle it. The linings of sickness and sanity sometimes are so thin. In love, specially.
Still don't know how to justify my 9 out of 10 score. I simply loved it. Maybe because is an original piece, with a beautiful (and all-the-way- rocker) soundtrack -yeah, Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" is a delicious choice, and so Zeppelin's "What Is and What Should Never Be", with glimpses of DeNiro's awesomeness... we should cherish this one as a gem for the future, a cult movie of its own. It has a lot of great elements which merge together fine though it's a hell of a ride.
DeNiro is the absolute man. He may be old, but has that shine I can barely describe on other actors. Yes, he's the Italian tough guy, yes, he's an old man autoportraiting himself nowadays, but he's a legend, and he's a key role in the story. And does it so well. He'd bet your daughter that he can.
Sometimes the film has the predictability we hope for, but that's no harm. Romances must end well. And this one does. Though the paths which lead this beautiful story may be a little odd.
Very, very good and touching movie.
Cheers from Argentina.