Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by David O. Russell, adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. The film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, and Julia Stiles in supporting roles.

Cooper plays Patrick "Pat" Solitano, Jr., a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. Determined to win back his estranged wife, Pat meets recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, who offers to help him get his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become closer as they train and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their problems.

Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2012, and was released in the United States on November 16, 2012. The film opened to major critical success and earned numerous accolades. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay. It became the first film since 1981's Reds to be Oscar-nominated for the four acting categories and the first since 2004's Million Dollar Baby to be nominated for the Big Five Oscars, with Lawrence winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. It also achieved four Golden Globe Award nominations, with Lawrence winning Best Actress; three BAFTA nominations, with Russell winning for Best Adapted Screenplay; four Screen Actors Guild nominations; and five Independent Spirit Award nominations, winning in four categories, including Best Film. The film was a blockbuster at the box office, grossing over $236 million worldwide, more than eleven times its budget.\

Storyline

Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr., caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland mental health institution after his minimum eight month court ordered stint. The condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Nikki has since left him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication (which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life. His goals are to get his old job back as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are certain instances where he doesn't cope well, however no less so ...

Plot

After eight months of treatment for bipolar disorder, Pat Solitano is released from a mental health facility in Baltimore, and returns to Lansdowne, Pennsylvania into the care of his father Patrizio and mother Dolores. Pat soon learns that his estranged wife, Nikki, has moved away, and that his father is out of work and resorting to illegal bookmaking to earn money with the hopes of opening a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki, who obtained a restraining order against him after a violent episode sent him away.

While talking to his court-mandated therapist Dr. Cliff Patel (Kher), Pat explains why he was hospitalized: Coming home early from his high school teaching job after getting into an argument with the school's principal, he had found his wife in the shower with the history teacher from his school while his wedding song is playing, and nearly beat the man to death. Pat recognizes that hearing the song, My Cherie Amour, can trigger a violent episode, and that sometimes when he is distressed, he hears the song though it is not playing. Despite this, Pat doesn't believe that he needs medication to manage his condition. He tells Cliff that he has a new outlook on life. This is a reference to the name of the film, as he attempts to see the good, or "silver linings", in all that he experiences. As part of this outlook, and his transformation to become a more worthy husband, he has lost weight and is attempting to read the books that his wife Nikki teaches to children at her school.

At dinner with his friend Ronnie and his wife Veronica, Pat meets Veronica's sister Tiffany, a young widow who lost her job and is suffering from depression. Her dark past and blunt way of speaking make others uncomfortable, but she and Pat develop an odd friendship through their shared mental illnesses. They get together to eat at a diner and after an argument in the street which Tiffany escalates claiming Pat's assaulting her, she then comes to his defense when the police show up and he becomes distressed, hearing his wedding song. Tiffany eventually offers to deliver a letter to Nikki if, in return, he will be her partner in an upcoming dance competition. He reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to show Nikki that he has changed and become a better person.

Things go well for Pat until his father asks him to attend a Philadelphia Eagles game as a "good-luck charm", partly because he has bet virtually all of his money on the outcome. Pat asks Tiffany for time off from practice to attend the game, which she begrudgingly allows. Tiffany also gives Pat a typed reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for a reconciliation between them. While at the game with his friends, Pat does well and is having fun at a tailgate, until some racist fans harass the Indian fans there, including Dr. Patel. Pat gets involved in a fight after seeing his brother get punched, and he is hauled away by the police. The Eagles lose the game and Patrizio is furious. Tiffany shows up at their house and berates Patrizio, pointing out that the way she is "reading the signs," Philadelphia teams do better when she and Pat are together, as they won every game they played when Tiffany and Pat were spending time together. Patrizio, now convinced that his son being with Tiffany is actually good luck, makes a parlay with his gambling friend that if the Eagles win their game against the Dallas Cowboys, and if Tiffany and Pat average a score of 5 out of 10 in their dance competition, he will win back double the money he lost on the first bet. Pat is reluctant to participate in the dance contest under those conditions, goes outside to consult Nikki's letter, and notices that it also refers to "reading the signs," realizing that Tiffany wrote the letter. With the Solatanos' finances in danger, Tiffany and Pat's mother persuade Pat to dance in the competition by telling him that Nikki will be there.

Tiffany, Pat, and their friends and family arrive at the competition on the night of the football game. Tiffany despairs when she finds that Nikki actually is in the audience, so Tiffany goes to the hotel bar and starts drinking with a stranger. Moments before their dance, Pat finds her and practically drags her onto the dance floor. They begin their routine as the Eagles defeat the Cowboys.

At the conclusion of their set, cute but obviously unprofessional, Tiffany and Pat score exactly 5 points. Amid cheers from friends and family and confused looks from the crowd, Pat approaches Nikki and speaks quietly into her ear. Tiffany sees this and runs from the hotel. Pat leaves Nikki behind after a short conversation, intent on finding Tiffany. Pat's father informs him that Tiffany left and tells him that he loves her right now and that it will be a sin if he does not reach out to this moment that life has given him. Pat tells his father that he loves him, and runs after Tiffany. He hands Tiffany a letter that he wrote to her, in which he admits that he knows she forged Nikki's letter. He confesses his love for her and that he loved her from the moment he met her, and apologizes that it took him so long to come to terms with this. They share a kiss, become a couple, and Patrizio opens a restaurant with the money he has won. The final moments in the movie between Pat and Tiffany show that both of them loved up to each other and also no longer wearing their wedding rings.

Cast

• Bradley Cooper as Patrizio "Pat" Solitano, Jr., a former teacher and recent divorcee
• Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow.
• Robert De Niro as Patrizio "Pat" Solitano, Sr., Pat and Jake's father
• Jacki Weaver as Dolores Solitano, Pat and Jake's mother
• Chris Tucker as Danny McDaniels, a good friend of Pat from the psychiatric hospital.
• Anupam Kher as Dr. Cliff Patel, Pat's doctor and friend
• Shea Whigham as Jake Solitano, Pat's brother
• Julia Stiles as Veronica, Tiffany's sister
• John Ortiz as Ronnie, Veronica's husband, Pat's friend, and Tiffany's brother-in-law
• Brea Bee as Nikki, Pat's ex-wife.
• Cheryl Williams as Mrs. Maxwell, mother of Tiffany and Veronica
• Patrick McDade as Mr. Maxwell, father of Tiffany and Veronica
• Dash Mihok as Officer Keogh
• Matthew Russell as Ricky D'Angelo
• Paul Herman as Randy
• Patsy Meck as Nancy: the principal of the school where Pat and Nikki worked

User Review

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to this film. First of all, I think it's about time I profess my love for David O'Russell because he keeps making movies that I simply can't get enough of. If there's one thing I've learned this year when it comes to movies, it's find a director you love and follow him or her blindly. There's styles you'll love, and styles you'll hate, find the ones you click with and never let go.

Silver Linings Playbook has generated a lot of hype since its worldwide premiere at TIFF, and frankly, as far as I'm concerned, it deserves all the praise its received. It is by far the best film I saw at the festival, and is easily one of the most memorable films of 2012. Based on the novel by Matthew Quick, Silver Linings follows the life of Pat (Bradley Cooper) as he moves back into his parents' house after spending months in a mental institution because of a violent outburst that occurred after he found his wife with another man. The movie follows Pat as he attempts to get back his life back, but he meets a new challenge as Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, who is completely girl crush worthy) finds his way into his life.

I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed a movie more from beginning to end. O'Russell brilliantly tells a heartwarming, yet complicated and hilarious tale, that leaves you on the edge of the seat. The cast is wonderful, and all deserving of nominations in the 2012 award season. If people didn't know of Jennifer Lawrence before, they will now. She's quirky, complicated, hilarious, and you really just can't get enough of her. DeNiro also delivers a strong performance as Cooper's Philadelphia Eagle's loving, somewhat OCD father.

If there is one movie worth seeing this year, it's Silver Linings Playbook. The story may follow a family in a very serious situation, but we can all identity with the truth and emotions that comes with struggling through times. It's a story that's easy to connect with, and it's a film that will make you smile from beginning to end. Catch this movie when it comes out in November, and I promise you, you won't regret it.