Silver Linings Playbook-An Honest Review

The 2012 romantic dramedy was written and directed by David O. Russel. It’s the story of Pat ( Bradley Cooper ), a man released from a mental hospital, trying to reconnect with his estranged wife.

Warning, Spoilers Ahead:

PLOT:

After being released from a mental hospital in Baltimore, which was also being attended by Chris Tucker for some reason, Pat returns to his parents, the football loving Pat Sr. ( Robert De Niro ) and Dolores ( Jacki Weaver ). His goals, get his job back, and get back with his ex-Nikki ( Brea Bee ).

On the surface, Pat’s a regular guy, only he’s suffering from bipolar, which caused him to assault a colleague, who was cheating on Nikki. So, the judge gave him eight months in Baltimore. Basically, normal guy, just triggers easily. As displayed in several other instances throughout the movie.

Pat meets Tiffany ( Jennifer Lawrence ), the sister of his friend’s wife at a dinner. She’s a widow, who at first glance, seems to be a semi-gothic girl who wants nothing to do with anybody or anything. As the film progresses, she starts opening up to Pat.

Despite Nikki’s retraining order on Pat, he gets Tiffany, whose a friend of Nikki, to deliver letters to her. In exchange, she makes him do a “dance thing”. The two become good friends over the next half hour or so. Also, Chris Tucker has been released, even though he’s admits he’s still nutty.

Everything leads up to the competition. Pat Sr. lost a lot of money in a bet over a football game. Tiffany suggests double or nothing, now including getting a 5/10 from their “dance thing”.

It’s the big night. Nikki IS PRESENT. Throwing both Tiffany and Pat completely on edge. They’re dancing, everything’s going well, maybe because Tiffany’s half-drunk on vodka, idk. The big ending move comes up, it goes terrible. They finish up, scoring exactly 5.0/10. Having won, Pat goes to Nikki, breaking Tiffany’s little heart. She leaves, tears in her eyes. Pat catches up to her, stating that it’s she he loves, not Nikki. Even after everything Pat went through, he had his own silver lining. The End.

CONCLUSION:

Silver Linings Playbook was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Surrounded by all-around great performances. From Cooper, from J Law, from De Niro ( obviously ), and even Chris Tucker in his small, but semi-important role. Of course, much of the film was carried by the chemistry between J Law and Cooper, which I assume is the reason they made another three films after this.

Silver Linings was paced like a multi-syllable rhyme. Seemingly everything having a payoff by the end. Overall, I’d give Silver Linings Playbook an 8/10.

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