Most movies are considered great because of their special effects, over the top romantic gestures, or other departures from reality. “Silver Linings Playbook” is great in an opposite way- by its raw and accurate portrayal of real life and life people.
Most movies are considered great because of their special effects, over the top romantic gestures, or other departures from reality. “Silver Linings Playbook” is great in an opposite way- by its raw and accurate portrayal of real life and life people.“Silver Linings Playbook” opens with main character Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) being picked up by his mom and moving back into his parent’s home after an 8 month stint in a mental institution. He suffers from bipolar disorder and a particular violent episode landed him in the institution and caused him to lose his job and most importantly, his wife. Still in love with her, he is desperate to win her back, despite the restraining order she took out against him. As Pat transitions back into his “normal” life, he must figure out how to negotiate life with his mental illness, and he is surrounded by family and friends who play a crucial role in the navigation of this journey.
What brings this movie to life though is not the storyline, but rather the characters who take the storyline and run with it, creating a movie that is a whirlwind of emotions. Pat himself is a volatile, unstable character, who can be found jogging on the streets wearing a garbage bag or waking his parents with an outburst about a Hemingway novel at 4 am. His father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) is a superstitious Philadelphia Eagles Fan with OCD tendencies whose primary concern about his son is whether he is watching the Eagles games. Pat’s best friend, Ronnie (John Ortiz) struggles with a dominating wife in a marriage that is sucking the life out of him. But the most poignant and captivating character is certainly Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who is a recent widow who is broken from the death of her husband yet is quirky, passionate, and holds her own against anyone who criticizes her. Pat and Tiffany are both fiercely determined to make sense of their respective confused lives and the two bond over this, forming an instant and explosive friendship. This friendship leads them to enter a dance competition, and the time they spend rehearsing brings them closer to each other and further away from their emotional and mental instabilities.
The characters of “Silver Linings Playbook”, which is based on the book by Matthew Quick and directed by David O. Russell, are all complex and multi-dimensional. They each have their issues they are dealing with, yet they are all determined to find laughter and happiness in their lives. Each character is unapologetically true to themselves- they laugh, shout, and cry whenever they feel like it. This leads to a roller coaster of emotions that draws in the viewer to take that ride with them. And while there is the potential for the movie to take a turn towards the dark and depressing, the characters and thus the viewers instead find the humor in the missteps of life and the good qualities in people that exist beneath the rough exterior.
“Silver Linings Playbook” works because the writer and director have taken characters and topics that are difficult and created a story that is at times humrous, at times emotional, and at times uplifting. What results is a very raw and real portrayal of life. There are no huge romantic gestures, and no moment of epiphany where life suddenly all makes sense. What “Playbook” makes clear is precisely that life usually does not make sense- it can be difficult, painful, and frustrating. But its worth it to hang in there because as Pat’s mantra dictates, “if you do everything you can and you stay positive you have a shot at a silver lining”.