My cherie amour

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2014)

Bradley Cooper has a "Silver Linings Playbook" in this 2012 film directed by David O. Russell and also starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert DeNiro.
Delores Solatano brings her bipolar son Pat Jr. home from a mental health institution, although it's not recommended by the doctors. She also didn't tell her husband, Pat Solatano Sr., who is now a bookie.
Pat Jr.'s history is checkered due to his illness. A former teacher, he came home one day and found his wife Nikki in the shower with another teacher while "My Cherie Amour" played on the stereo. He beat the man to a pulp. His wife has a restraining order against him. Pat Jr. is now in mandatory therapy but refuses to take his medication because it makes him foggy. He thinks exercise and good health are the way to go. The first time he goes to the psychiatrist's office, "My Cherie Amour" is playing in the reception room, and Pat trashes it.
One night he looks for his wedding video and can't find it. He wakes his mother up, which wakes his father up -- and ultimately the entire neighborhood and the police.
Delusional, Pat believes that if he gets in good physical shape, which he is doing, adopts a positive attitude and always looks for the "silver linings," his wife will come back to him.
One night at a friend's house for dinner, he meets a widow and recovering sex addict, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). After a rocky beginning, Pat asks Tiffany if she will deliver a letter to Nikki. She will, on the condition that he is her dance partner in an upcoming contest. He reluctantly agrees.
This is a wonderful, entertaining movie with heartfelt performances by all involved. The film shows the difficulty in dealing with bipolar illness not just for the person who has it, but the whole family, and how in some ways it has ripped them apart. So there is healing needed for the entire family.
I remember when Bradley Cooper was on Alias. He was a cute young leading man with a pleasant personality who had obviously been picked up by a top agency, as he started showing up in movies. It turns out that he has a tremendous talent. His performance here is very honest as a man always on the edge who fights for control and is determined to meet his goals. "You have to have a strategy," his therapist (Anupam Kehr) keeps telling him. Kehr is excellent as Pat's low-key therapist.
Jennifer Lawrence does a great job as Tiffany -- some people don't like her acting style, which is very overt, but I do. She is very intense, I'll grant you, but she plays a woman with lots of challenges. Robert De Niro is superb as Pat Sr., with an OCD personality who has trouble communicating with his problem son.
Chris Tucker is Pat's friend from the institution who keeps discharging himself and getting picked up by the police and taken back. He's hilarious. Finally, Jacki Weaver as Pat's mother is delightful - a loving woman trying to reconcile father and son and keep the peace.
While some people found the ending formulaic, I loved it. I'm a sucker, so sue me.
A warm film, well directed.