Silver Linings Playbook

[ladyevenstar22]

finally gave in and saw this movie in an unconventional format as i probably will all oscar nominees coz i live in a wasteland in the middle of nowhere....anyway i gave it a Bthis is an unconventional rom -com if that's what people are calling it, maybe the ending , i did not connect with the characters, but it made me think about what makes people label this or that behaviour crazy? bradley cooper was really good in this acting wise ,he scared me , i don't think i could cope with being around someone who goes off like that , it must be exhausting and emotionally draining...and yet somehow he connects with another person who's got her own issues( by the way i know what's bothering me about j.lawrence i don't like that color hair on her, she looks better as a blonde) at times i wasnt sure i believed her reactions as they seemed over the top but not enough to take me out of the film i'll admit though with 40 mn left i started getting restless , wanting to go play games on facebook as i listened to the film but i stuck with it and at the end it did get an AWWW from me scene in street where he gives her his letter, by the way i knew all along she never gave anything to his ex wife, the way she acted while he read it, she seemed to pay way too much attention to how he was taking every line,trying to tell how he felt about his ex-wife and hopes of rekindling their couple, clearly she was playing it safe keeping her cards closse to her chest and came up with this dance thing to get to spend time with him without him suspectingi really liked robert de niro performance, if anything i'd say i can agree with the acting noms but the film itself mehhh and this is the same guy that did "the fighter" that film had way more dept and drama and tighter directing, could be difference in approach between filming a comedy and a drama?that scene at football stadium , i felt like i've seen it before somewhere else, same depiction it wasnt one of the stronger scenes in the film, in a movie talking about mental ilness , it brought such a contrast between cooper who's supposedly the cuckoo one and these NFL hooligans( what was that about?brawl for sake of brawl and consequence of airheads mix with too much alcohol) it left a bad taste in my mouth, clearly not everyone behaves like that which is a reliefin the end what i take from this film is your mental ilness is only a part of you and you can still fall in love and have a relationship , love is universal and if you have someone to love and a family that support you even when you're a pain in the ass to them then you're more the stronger for it and its a little easier to cohabitate with your crazy side and help you to live better with them is it best film of the year ? NO , up there with the best certainly it can def argue its way to an A- but its first oscar nominee i've seen so wait and see firstnow on to see her competition lol

Edited January 25, 2013 by ladyevenstar22

[dashrendar44]

Well, all of the Indie RomCom cliches are there.

 

Troubled mid-thirty WASP who can't get his shit together acting like a retarded teen with odd therapy in quest of future cult status ("Excelsior"). Check

 

Mental bipolar disorder as an award vehicle for his main popular actor. Check

 

Saved by a quirky manic pixie chick crashing into his messy existence who happened to be hot as hell and the main catalyst of his life check. Check

 

All surrounded by whimsical but yet adorable characters (Indian therapist, supersticious father with OCD) that mess around him while wanting to do good for the main chracter *cue laughter*. Check

 

Soundtracked to some moody folk music and popular culture throwbacks (Metallica and football references). Check

 

Of course, they'll won the dance contest not literally but as a metaphor of overcoming their trouble and shortcomings as earning their happy ending. Only in movies, you'll see two fucked-up individuals fix each other's mental trouble. In real life, that never ends in "They live happily together without taking pills anymore..." but Bipolar disorder has never been so sexy!    Add to the fact that I loathe Bradley Cooper in every movie I've seen from him. Since Wedding Crashers, he seems to be Douchebag incarnated with his smugness...When it began as the first scenes rolled out and didn't crack a smile as he leaves the hospital to his parents home. When he overacted about Hemingway, I thought it forced and that I was in for a painful watching...

 

BUT (And that's one nice big "but", reference to J-Law's dreamy booty notwithstanding) David O'Russell cooked it good and genuine enough so I could get through all that nice and easy without being bored and infuriated by the sheer amount of indie fiction tropes.

 

Cooper is a douchebag but such pathetic and daft one, he becomes sympathetic and likable over the course of the movie. That scene when he's remembering the "incident" and how that song triggered anger in him now I felt something for that guy. (As his desperation of getting back on track with his wife Nikki). He took me by surprise at that exact moment, that's when I let loose about my grievances and totally get aboard, the humor and emotional moments hit home from then. Considering my strong bias against him, that's a real achievement.

 

The manic pixie role is pulled off effortlessly by Jennifer Lawrence and not Natalie Portman, that's a plus, I can totally buy her as a loud mouth and pouty troubled individual who got through a lot of suffer and dealt with it her own way without whining and bitchin' about it non stop like Cooper's character did. I liked how she told him his facts straight to his face but also bluffing to move his ass (I wouldn't think twice doing steamy dance routines with J-Law if it was my only way of recovering ) even if, at times, it was paraphrasing in moralizing dialogue what we already understood "You and I, we're in this togethah and WE got to win togethah the dancing contest because it's the only chance of recovering from those nasty shit we got to deal with so let's get our shit togethah blah".

 

And those emotional scenes between father and son finally rang true for me when Cooper leaves his douchey side at the door (De Niro is touching and hilarious especially his face off with J-Law, his De Niro's faces are priceless). In the 3rd act, those final dance scenes did their uplifiting deed (Nice chemistry and Lawrence teasing and taunting us at the front of the camera is irresistible ) but ultimately reminded you it still your romcom cliche ending beat for beat, they got to win the bet because they got to, Pat gotta realize he's now in love with Tiffany and let go his wife even if we didn't really seen that shift operating in a real build up (that final revealing letter). It kinda deflated the two previous long off-kilter acts as you sense the urge of coming to a traditional (too) perfect happy end (The movie is coming short of 2h long) saying basically "F*ck off Hemingway's bitter endings!".

 

So, in the end, it's all cute for the most part and made me appreciate a Bradley Cooper's performance from beginning till the end (without feeling the urge of punching him in the face) but nothing memorable or unforgettable. That's pretty good in my silver linings playbook.

 

B+.

Edited January 27, 2013 by dashrendar44

[Blankments]

Such a good movie. Cooper, Lawrence, and De Niro knock it out the park, and it was very funny. Might've been a little predictable at points, but I can't fault it for it. Absolutely loved it, and it's my new BP hopeful. A+

Edited January 27, 2013 by Break-It Blank

[Vanilla]

While I agree with everyone else about Lawrence, I have got to say Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro are fantastic in this. A all around great film. One of the best of the year.

 

9.5/10 

[Jack Nevada]

OH MY GOD JENNIFER LAWRENCE IS SO HOT IN THIS.

I mean, goddamn! I dont want to sound immature or anything, but she was like hot lava in Silver Linings Playbook. I'd go as far as to say that Tiffany is the sexiest character in movies since the glory days of Marilyn Monroe. Jennifer Lawrence deserves to become a sex symbol, if only for her role in this movie. 

 

But.. not only is she hot, she's a three dimensional character that Lawrence make come to life remarkably. Lawrence and Bradley Cooper play these fucked up and flawed characters in a way that makes you relate to them, and makes you interested in their fates. There should also be praise for Robert DeNiro, who kinda made me tear up at one point, and John Oritz playing Bradley Cooper's miserable friend. I think Jackie Weaver is the weakest link of the cast, she just kinda says obvious things and tries to pull of a jewish accent. 

 

I wasn't instantly in love with Silver Linings Playbook. I think the first 40 minutes the movie was kinda fumbling along, but after they start training for the dance competition I fell in love with it. Some people complain that it turns into a formulaic romcom at that point, but I didn't mind. It takes the formula and makes it work. It might not be anything revolutionary, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the more enjoyable romcoms I've seen in the longest time.

 

Good stuff

 

4,5/5

[rockNrollaDIM]

Yeah people will complain about the last quarter of the movie for its cliches but seriously, the scene with them bursting into celebration after scoring a 5 is the best payoff.

[Jack Nevada]

Yeah people will complain about the last quarter of the movie for its cliches but seriously, the scene with them bursting into celebration after scoring a 5 is the best payoff.

That was great. They also do the happiest goddamn ending you could imagine, but it didn't feel forced

[The Futurist]

I love how the word "cliché" applies only to certain non cool genres like rom com movies.

 

As if there weren't any cliché in all  the other movies.

 

You know how Argo is gonna play out 30 (10 ?) minutes into the movie yet nobody says it s cliché or formulaic but it just is.

Edited January 31, 2013 by The Futurist

[rockNrollaDIM]

Argo is a bore. My least favorite Affleck film. Although I will commend him for trimming the bloat that his previous films suffered a bit from.

[CoolioD1]

Argo is a bore. My least favorite Affleck film. Although I will commend him for trimming the bloat that his previous films suffered a bit from.

I disagree with there being bloat in his films actually. But man, Gone Baby Gone is so, so, so easily his best work. I quite like the other two but it's not even close  there. 

[CoolioD1]

btw I would say the movie fully earns it's ending. And it's really not as if the last act is a jarring change of tone from the rest of the movie like, at all.

[Jack Nevada]

Bradley Cooper is really terrific in this. His character is both likable, sad and even kinda threatening at times. 

Whenever he got those crazy eyes I was worried if he was going to beat someone's ass

[The Futurist]

I am seing this very soon ...

[Jack Nevada]

I am seing this very soon ...

Wait, so you've been ranting and raving about Silver Linings without even seeing it yet?

[The Futurist]

I never said anything about the movie per say, just assumed Jlaw was great in it  and rooting blindly for her.

[rockNrollaDIM]

:rofl:

 

Wow! I thought for sure you had seen it, like, 30 times.

[Gopher]

Hopefully American Bulls**t or whatever it's going to be called will be a return to David O. Russell's roots. He's become such a safe, mainstream filmmaker, I want to see him stop Oscar hunting and go a little crazy again.

[The Futurist]

.

Edited January 31, 2013 by The Futurist

[acsc1312]

Hopefully American Bulls**t or whatever it's going to be called will be a return to David O. Russell's roots. He's become such a safe, mainstream filmmaker, I want to see him stop Oscar hunting and go a little crazy again.

 

 

[Gopher]

I'n sorry I gave you a seizure.