intimate, offbeat, and thoroughly engaging

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2018)

Excelsior! Having spent several months in a psychiatric hospital, a recently divorced man suffering from bi-polar disorder is released to live with his overbearing parents in a suburb of West Philadelphia-not exactly an ideal scenario given his unpredictable behavior and attempt to get his act together. While his mother tries to get him back on the right track and his father desires to make up for lost time by bonding through Eagles football, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship with an unorthodox young woman (recently widowed) who's just as messed up as he is. Like you'd expect the film has a foregone conclusion, but focusing on two lead characters who are totally screwed up creates more entertainment by sidestepping the typical elements of the genre. Moody, poignant, and unconventional, with colorful dialogue and important themes like family and friendship are all displayed by Russell's skillful direction that effectively captures the shifting moods of his mercurial characters. Cooper is appropriately brooding and neurotic, Lawrence perfectly feisty and acerbic, but the acting is superb all-around. ***