REVIEW #132 Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Pat is just released from a mental Health facility 8 months after attacking his wife’s lover, keen to get his life and his marriage back on track with the help of his new friend Tiffany. The film is directed by David O. Russell and won Jennifer Lawrence an Academy Award for best actress.

CAST & THE ACTING 

The cast is simply brilliant, I was aware of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence leading the film as Pat and Tiffany but I didn’t know that they were supported by the likes of Robert De Niro and Chris Tucker. The performances were great, so much so that Jennifer Lawrence even received an Academy Award for best actress. Bradley Cooper portrayed a character with bipolar and he handled it so well, he could have easily have won the best Actor award alongside Lawrence. The pairs chemistry looked so natural, creating a wonderful partnership between the two characters that had me so invested in their journey. Robert Di Niro also performed well, my favourite scene of his was when his character opens up to his son and he gets emotional, it was such a touching and impactful scene. What I enjoyed the most about all of their performances was it had so much range, there were moments where they’d make you really laugh out loud and then other moments where they would make you cry. So really impressed here.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

As far as romances go, this is hands down my favourite. It didn’t have the cheesy scenes that so often come with a typical romance film and it had me engaged the entire time. The focus on the two leading characters suffering from serious mental health issues made them more complex and they handled the sensitive topic so well. It allowed them to use it for dramatic and emotional purposes but also for comedic scenes. Yes you could say the storyline was predictable, but aren’t all romance films like that? Two people meet and by the end of the film they fall in love, having to jump a series of hurdles along the way. Despite its predictable nature, it had me hooked from start to finish. You could also tell that the director and the actors really researched mental health issues in order to create such an accurate and authentic portrayal of two characters that are suffering from it. For me this was the best storyline I’ve seen from a film in this genre. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

Obviously there wasn’t any special effects and for the most part the cinematography was kept pretty simple. I did like the camerawork for the scenes where Pat would be having an incident, such as when he gets surrounded by teenagers outside of the cinema or when he can’t find his wedding video. The camera reflected the chaotic nature of the scene, symbolic of his current state of mind. The final dance scene was also created beautifully and it was constructed perfectly to represent the relationship between Pat and  Tiffany. But as I said, for the most part it was just your standard cinematography, which is fine for a film like this.

OVERALL (9/10)

I was asked a while ago what my favourite romance film was and nothing really stood out, it was mainly just Adam Sandler comedy romances. However this goes straight to number one, I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while but never got round to it, so I’m really late in watching but I’m glad I did. It’s a drama but it has plenty of comedic moments too, the film can make you laugh and cry which is always a good sign. The cast and their performances were excellent and combined with a storyline that created really complex and interesting characters, I believe this film deserves the high score of a 9 out of 10. Definitely give it a watch if you haven’t already.