Review: Silver Linings Playbook

As I may or may not have said before (I’ve been on holiday so last wrote a time ago) I will write about new and old films here, pretty much as I watch them and feel like writing about them. I saw Despicable Me 2 the other day by the way – it’s pretty okay, I laughed out loud maybe twice, not as good as the original but hey it was fun. That’s that! This is this: Silver Linings Playbook.

This film is a masterpiece. You know, scrap that. It’s not a masterpiece, because masterpiece makes it sound like the roof of the Sistine Chapel, like a beautiful representation of something beautiful and rare and wholesome. It’s a beautiful representation of something miserable, common, and under-appreciated by society. This film almost perfectly shows the struggle of completely normal people coming to terms with mental issues, love, loss, family - the works. It is the best use of 122 minutes of my or anyone’s time if they want to have a window into mental illness and how it can affect human beings on a micro and macro level.

Okay aaaaand breathe… I’m gushing. Let’s break it down! Main character: Pat, played by Bradley Cooper. This guy is brilliant. Let’s be honest, when he was doing the Hangover films and the A-Team, we all thought, “yeah okay he’s a funny guy, he can act, he looks great, but he’s never going to be a silver screen legend.” Well, boy has he turned that around! Limitless, SLP and The Place Beyond the Pines are all completely different yet captivating roles from the guy. The fact that he talks about his friendship with Robert di Niro (also outstanding in this film) tells you that Bobby believes in Cooper. In SLP the range demanded of Cooper is huge – he has to go from low down in the darkest hole of his life, up to the final (and inevitable) denouement (we’ll come back to this later). Yet he never strains too high and oversteps the mark, or goes too low and ends up not acting at all. He is clearly well prepared and researched, and boy does it show.

Jennifer Lawrence – ditto. I mean wow, what a star she is! If she can keep herself as clearly down to earth as she is (we’ve all seen the Youtube clips!) then she is a multiple Oscar winner waiting to happen. In SLP she keeps us guessing – we think we know Tiffany, how she ticks, but she always keeps a sense of mystery to the role. Will she suddenly storm off for no reason? Is she still the slut she says she used to be? Her lecture about the Eagles’ results to di Niro’s character Pat Senior, while it owes a lot to the brilliant writing, is perfectly measured in tone and pace. She is a natural actress who clearly understood this character.

The writing itself – sublime. I must confess I haven’t read David Quick’s original book, so I don’t know how much to attribute to him and how much to screenplay adaptor/director David O. Russell, but there is an understanding of mental illness, family, love, and the myriad of interactions between them that almost beggars belief. SLP is so watchable that I actually only realised I had my laptop set to the tiny letterbox setting as the film ended. The tone and tempo of dialogue is beautiful in the way it ebbs and flows – there is a superb appreciation of the quick changes of emotions that all characters go through in this story.

Yes the ending is classic Hollywood, but I cared so much about all of these characters by the end that I just didn’t mind. This is a brilliant film. Please watch it right now if you haven’t already.