Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell, perhaps most well-known for his movie, The Fighter, tackles mental disorders such as OCD, Depression, and Bipolar disorder in this dramedy. The movie begins with Pat Solitano, played by Bradley Cooper, who is getting released out of a mental health facility after he blew up when he found out his wife was cheating on him. Pat is determined to get back with his wife, Nikki but he then meets, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. Tiffany’s husband had died and she goes on a strange, sexual binge afterwords. Both characters have these strange conversations that aren’t really normal conversations due to what they are both dealing with and it displays the strange behavior that people with mental disorders have in a great and interesting way.
The movie has unique tone shifts from drama to comedy that I feel in any other movie, it wouldn’t work, but because of what the characters are going through it makes a lot of sense. The movie feels like bipolar disorder in a very good way. Russell plays off the movie in that way and it really is smartly done. The comedy works for the most part throughout the movie and the jokes flow well within the script itself. The performances given by the whole cast were fantastic, especially Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. Bradley Cooper really expands as an actor in this movie and shows that he really has more talent than he has ever shown. Lawrence does an amazing job and impressed me the most in the film. De Niro finally gets out of playing himself like he has for the past ten years and gives a real performances.
I would also like to say that a lot of the camera work and editing was fantastic. It again, just like the movie itself with it’s character and plot, gives a sense of mental disorders with its use of fast zoom in’s and out’s in some parts. Overall, this is one of the most impress movies of the year that certainly deserves all of the nominations it’s been getting and it is defiantly one of the most memorable movies of the year.
4.5/5 Stars
