Movie review: Silver Linings Playbook- in two minds

Directed by David O Russell, this romantic comedy/drama is for the most part a whimsical film.

Perhaps it is fitting that Silver Linings Playbook, which features a group of characters with more than a few loose screws, is a little…maddening.

Directed by David O Russell, this romantic comedy/drama is for the most part a wonderfully whimsical film with a cast of sweet and interesting characters, who in their bouts of anxiety, depression, delusion, and paranoia seem to be made for each other.  Yet as the film progresses, it sheds its unique narrative and regresses to the paint-by-numbers Hollywood treatment, and quite disappointingly ends up employing every romantic comedy cliché in the playbook.

The film stars Bradley Cooper, who gives an excellent performance as Patrizio “Pat Jr” Solitano Jr, a man with bipolar disorder. Pat Jr was sentenced to a mental health facility by the courts after brutally assaulting the man his wife, Nikki, was having an affair with. Now, with expectations that border on delusion, Patrizio hopes to get back together with his spouse, while being counseled by his court mandated therapist Dr Patel (Anupam Kher), who tries to keep Pat Jr grounded in reality. After all, the cuckolded Pat Jr beat his victim nearly to death when he came home to find him in the shower with his wife, with their wedding song cruelly playing in the background.

But Pat Jr finds it difficult to stay balanced, especially whenever he hears his wedding song, which causes him to lose all control. He also finds it difficult to now live in the care of his parents, especially his unemployed and crazily superstitious father Patrizio “Pat Sr” Solitano (Robert DeNiro) who tries to fund his restaurant dream by betting on football games featuring his favorite team.

Here, Pat Jr is set up with his best friend’s sister in law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recovering sex addict who lost her job, and her direction, after the death of her husband.

Both Pat Jr and Tiffany are seemingly made for each other, even though Pat Jr continues to long for his wife. It is here that Silver Linings Playbook loses its originality, resorting to overused plot devices, and an ending so sickly sweet that it would even make Bollywood cringe.

With eight Academy Award nominations, Silver Linings Playbook features some top notch acting from its entire cast; its narrative provides a lot of humour, but with the severe faults in the film. I believe the movie’s nomination for Best Picture seems more than a little delusional.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 17^th, 2013.

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