Touchdown

"Silver Linings Playbook"

Director David O. Russell certainly knows how to get the best performances out of people I would otherwise consider celebrities, not actors.  Celebrities for example like Mark Wahlberg.  Russell is definitely an actor's director and he proved that a couple of years with The Fighter.  Wahlberg proved to us that he can bust out his acting chops when necessary and his supporting co-stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo each walked away Oscar statues.  Silver Linings Playbook which uncharacteristically does not feature Wahlberg but instead has Bradley Cooper playing the main character is another solid entry in director's growing resume.

Pat (Cooper) is recently signed out of a mental institution by his mother Dolores (Jackie Weaver) and put under the supervision of her and his father (Robert De Niro.)  Eight months ago Pat had a mental breakdown after he caught his wife Nikki (Brea Bree) cheating on him in the shower with one of his former teaching colleagues.  Pat did what every normal, rational husband would do in that situation and proceeded to beat the crap out of the guy.  After being institutionalized per the court's request Pat was diagnosed as being bipolar.  Even though he refuses to take his medication his mother wants to take care of him which will hopefully further pave the road to his recovery and bring Pat closer to his father.  Bound and determined is Pat to get back his wife but along the way he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) through a mutual friend the two share.  Tiffany is also damaged goods, like Pat.  She too has had a breakdown of sorts since her husband recently passed away.  Together the two of them form a relationship as they try find the silver linings within each other.

On the surface Silver Linings Playbook appears to be nothing special.  There's nothing unusual about the way the story is told.  No fancy MTV style editing tricks or in your face visual effects to be found here.  Man, this sounds like a really boring film.  Wrong!  I came out of this film feeling the same way I did after watching The Fighter.  There's nothing here but good storytelling and sound acting.  

I have never and probably won't ever again see Cooper give such a dedicated and proficient performance.  He shows such a natural range of emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other to which I was thoroughly impressed.  Same could be said about Lawrence as well.  She is very hot right now in Hollywood ever since her Oscar nod for her work in Winter's Bone.  I wouldn't be surprised if both of them receive nominations for their performances in this film.  Both actors have such great on screen chemistry together which comes off as genuine and believable.  Pat and Tiffany do go through their individual ups and downs but there was just something about watching the two of them that didn't make the film seem overly sentimental or vapidly clichéd.

In order to capture these organic performances Russell uses of a ton of handheld camerawork.  Normally I'm pretty against handheld, herky jerky, occasionally nauseating, camera movement that so many directors nowadays seem to shoot their movies in.  Most of time that choice comes off as being lazy, sloppy, and uninspired, serving little to purpose but to infuriate the audience.  Russell uses this camera technique to his advantage and for a reason.  The fact we are propelled right in to the middle of these scenes as we get right up next to Cooper, De Niro, or Lawrence lets us see the raw emotions these actors are conveying.  I want to be a part of these conversations.  I want to be a part of the family too.  Russell gives his audience that chance just as he did in The Fighter to be included in the scene.  

Silver Linings Playbook has the perfect blend of drama and humor to keep us entertained.  There's a certain classic quality to this film as there was with The Fighter.  It's true that the acting styles have changed as well as the camera techniques but there still remains a solid screenplay with tried and true themes that we can all get behind on one level or another.  Silver Linings Playbook probably won't be remembered for decades to come but at least in regards to the here and now of cinema it certainly is one of the year's best.  This playbook has plays we've seen before but the coach still knows how to make his players score when the game is on the line.