Silver Linings Playbook

First off everyone, sorry for the format of this post. Blogger (the site by which I do my posts) is truly atrocious sometimes, despite the fact that it is run by Google. So I apologize for the awkward/stupid formatting if it appears on your computer. Not sure how long it will last. Also, please remember to vote in the user poll on the right side of your screen! It's a very important poll that will be used to determine the User Movie of the Year Award come January!

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
Or in other words, my dream wife and how
I imagine I want to look someday, respectively.

Now that all that house cleaning is done, we can get onto the review. Silver Linings Playbook tells the story of a bipolar Bradley Cooper who comes home from a mental hospital in order to try to put his marriage back together. During his time at home he meets the equally as crazy Jennifer Lawrence and they set out to help each other with Tiffany (Lawrence) promising that she will get a letter to Pat's (Cooper) wife who has a restraining order against him and Pat promising to compete with Tiffany in a dancing competition. From that description, Silver Linings Playbook sounds like a drama...and I suppose you would be right. But it is also really really funny at times, and the romance between Pat and Tiffany are at its core. So I guess you could call it a "romantic dramedy" *Phrase copyrighted by Rath's Reviews*. 

We never really do find out why he wears a trashbag...

I'll get my main issue with Silver Linings Playbook out of the way first: it is unfocused. Unfocused in several ways in fact. As I mentioned before, this is a drama and a comedy, but sometimes it feels like it is trying so hard at both. There are times where Pat has serious outbursts and suddenly the movie isn't so lighthearted anymore while there are other times that the comedy is somewhat unrealistic it seems. It's not a huge issue, it's just that sometimes the movie seems like it is operating in two different universes. Also unfocused is the center of the story. The main plot is Pat letting go of his wife and Tiffany finally falling in love with someone again. But then there is Pat's dad, Pat Sr. (played by Robert De Niro) who has his own issues with OCD and temper tantrums. There were times where I felt that the movie was all about him, and in my opinion, that's a dangerous game to play if you are trying to aim for a romance. Don't get me wrong, De Niro is fantastic, and his character and all of his problems are necessary to the story, but I shouldn't have ever gotten the feeling like he was more of a main character than Tiffany, and I did several times. 

Jennifer Lawrence might be the sexiest woman in
Hollywood right now. You heard it here first people,
she might be knocking Blake Lively off the top spot...

Some natural chemistry, despite the fact that he
 is stealing my woman.

But gripes aside, Silver Linings Playbook is really a treasure of a film. Cooper and Lawrence feel so natural here, which maybe means that they are actually crazy? I expect both of them to be getting Oscar nominations with Lawrence possibly winning hers seeing as how it hasn't been a super strong year for female performances. And the script is absolutely superb. Characters feel, say, and act realistically and the jokes are frequent and often funny. Chris Tucker makes a few appearances as Pat's mental ward friend and actually isn't annoying for once! In fact he has what might be the funniest line of the movie when instructing Tiffany on how to dance more sensual: "Come on now! Black it up!" But all of these kudos are nothing compared to the movie's best accomplishment: making you just feel...happy. Through all the turmoil of their diseases and all the serious drama aspects, you cant help but just have the biggest grin on your face when Tiffany and Pat are competing at the dance competition at the end. It was in that moment that I realized how much I truly cared for these two, and seeing them having fun on the dance floor made me so happy for them. It's been a long time at the movies since I have felt happy for a fictitious couple. 

Silver Linings Playbook may not teach us as much about life as I assume it intended to. There is something in there about just enjoying life and finding the silver lining to everything, but in the end, I just wanted these two characters to stop trying to enjoy life so much and just start naturally enjoying it. You end up rooting for them because you know that their craziness added together ends up equaling a loving relationship. And maybe that's the lesson we should take: appreciate the craziness in someone else and don't shy away from relationships because of it.

Pros:

• The characters are people we want to root for, particularly Pat and Tiffany. This is a huge testament to the acting chops of everyone on board
• Really really funny at times. Chris Tucker actually isn't annoying for once
• After it's all said and done, it's a movie that just makes you happy above all else
• Jennifer Lawrence is smokin
• The way the story is told, with it's fair share of flashbacks, is really well done. I enjoyed how it didn't reveal everything at once
• But seriously, Jennifer Lawrence
• The final dance is a lot of fun and leads to a great (albeit a tiny bit cheesy) ending

Cons:

• Is unfocused in two main areas. It has a hard time straddling the line of being a "romantic dramedy". Sometimes it does well, while other times I was left uncomfortable with how serious the movie had just gotten. In addition, Robert De Niro's character and his problems are focused on too much in my opinion. This time could have been better spent focusing on Tiffany and Pat, or their history before they met each other 
• Apparently, before the mental hospital, Bradley Cooper's character was fat. I think they missed an opportunity to put him in a fat suit or something of that nature

Rath's Review Score: 8/10

Sorry no trailer this week (or at least not right now). Google's Blogger has some serious kinks it needs to work out.