Silver Linings Playbook shows mental illness can have a happy ending

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2012)

"Cooper and Lawrence make this story of love between conflicting people almost seem perfect"
Only two years ago "The Fighter" came out and put David O'Russell back on top as great directors. Now he does a comedy about love and mental illness. Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental institution after spending many moths in. When he gets home his parents Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) and mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) try to make him feel better at home to get over the incident. Soon enough it is revealed that Pat is bipolar and he shows it when he overreacts to the smallest things. His friend invites him to a dinner where he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has her own problems including a dead husband. The two then start to develop a relationship which leads to the two competing in a dance competition, in return Tiffany will help him contact with his wife Nikki.
This is based on the book of the same name by Matthew Quick and one of my main problems of the novel was Pat felt to central and no other character seems interesting to me. In this film the changes are very present because the father figure seems more human and actually gets along with his son unlike in the book. For a comedy/drama about two people with mental issues it seems like a more original love story because the characters are more real and less obvious in how they act around each other. Also changes from the novel is that some of the chapters are mixed around and I think it works better how they present it in the movie because it added to the heart of the characters and how they react around each other.
Bradley Cooper plays Pat and he never has impressed me but I was blown away by his performance because it came as a shock to me. He is front and centre and even when the character does not break down he still is likable and totally unaware of what he is saying. Some of his best scenes are when he starts to lose his mind and it shows off the real talent that Cooper has never had the chance to show. Jennifer Lawrence plays Tiffany and usually known for her dramatic work was more of a surprise because of her unexplored skills in comedy. Her character can be very unlikeable at times but Lawrence brings her best to it. Her main scenes where she lets everyone knows what she is thinking is some of the best of the year. Her character is more emotional out of the pair which is why she stood out for me more. Robert De Niro was once great and for the past 20 years has not had a chance to show his skills but his turn in this film could be a new era in his career because he gets to emote as a man unaware to his mental issues. Still in his limited screen time he shows a man who like his son says anything he wants to and because of his OCD gets mad when his team loses. The rest of the cast were great to but unlike the main three they had much smaller parts are were usually used as background characters. At the start Jacki was great but as the story develops she disappears for large amounts of screen time.
A quick pace love story Silver Linings Playbook is one of the best representations of mental illness and how you always need someone to help you get through your problems. The ending of the film felt much better then how they ended the novel and it left me leaving the theatre with a big smile on my face as all these well written characters are finally happy. David has crafted a great cast and story showing he is back on top.
MOVIE GRADE: A (MVP: Jennifer Lawrence)