The romantic comedy follows the typical plot formula: initial dislike, growing attraction, breach of trust through misunderstanding, huge romantic gesture, reconciliation. The genre is riddled with this formula, making for rather dull and uninspired fare. While Silver Linings Playbook does follow this mundane model, the script allows each actor to fully realize each of their own characters with brute honesty and complexity.
After being released from a mental health facility, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper, Limitless, The Hangover) is determined to get his job and his wife back, both of which he lost after a violent outburst. He moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) trying to get a grasp of control on his life, but find himself continually at odds with his family. Enter Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone), his friend’s sister-in-law with a lot of spunk and her share of mental disorders. The two begin their peculiar friendship as Pat desperately tries to earn the “silver-linings” out of life.
The two leads, Cooper and Lawrence, both deliver committed and sure to be Oscar worthy performances. Cooper sheds his normal frat boy persona and composes himself as good hearted individual suppressing an emotional time bomb. His infectious optimism is tragically countered by his turbulent frustration in restraining his bipolar rage.
After a foray in blockbuster hits, it’s refreshing to see Lawrence return to a more realized roll. Though both manic and quirky, Lawrence’s fiery performance is far from the MPDG archetype. She portrays Tiffany with a blunt and unforgiving demeanor, yet subtly exposes a genuine vulnerability as well. The chemistry between the two leads cannot be denied; Pat and Tiffany delightfully offset each other as they waltz with whimsy and clash with candor.
The rest of the cast is well rounded out with Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, Jacki Weaver, and a revitalized Robert De Niro, in probably his best performance in quite some time as Pat’s temperamental father. De Niro’s role in particular manages to flesh out Pat’s issues. It becomes clear that Pat’s problems stem from troubles his father’s own unresolved demons.
Much like The Fighter, Silver Linings paints a portrait of the interwoven connection of community and family. The Philadelphia Eagles serve as an allegory of Pat’s recovery; the whole community is invested and their mood shifts based on Pat’s or the Eagles’ progress. With every shared triumph, director David O. Russell (The Fighter,Three Kings) demonstrates how quickly temper and frustration fester into volatile eruptions. Working with a raw camera, O. Russell captures the control chaos that ensues, making for a potent and visceral examination of familial politics.
While Silver Linings Playbook at its vein follows the bland rom com arch, the film elaborates on each of the character and explores the rich themes of mental health, self-esteem, and community (#sixseasonsandamovie); an outcome which translates into a thought provoking and heart moving work. Even in a day where genres have become incredibly formulaic and insulting to its audience’s intelligence, you can always find a silver lining.
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