Directed by: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, Julia Stiles, Paul Herman, Anupan Kher
I first saw and fell in love with Silver Linings Playbook in 2012. After several viewings since then, I felt it appropriate to revisit and write an updated review. I gave it three and a half stars in 2012, but now I'm inclined to go all the way and give it four stars. Silver Linings Playbook is an endlessly charming romantic comedy in which square pegs like Pat Solitano Jr. (Cooper) and Tiffany Maxwell (Lawrence) find a way to fit into the round hole of life. They were both dealt some crappy hands, but they find a way to persevere.
We first meet Pat in a mental hospital in Baltimore, one hundred miles away or so from his home in suburban Philadelphia. He is giving himself a pep talk before he pretends to take his meds, which he spits out on to the floor after convincing the doctors he swallowed them. His mother Delores (Weaver) can no longer stand her son being in a hospital and signs him out against the recommendations of his doctors. Why is Pat in the hospital? Eight months ago, he walked in on his wife Nikki having sex with a guy and Pat nearly beat the man to death. Pat has been trying to keep a lid on his rage ever since, but he finds this is difficult especially when he reads A Farewell to Arms and despises the ending.
Pat's father Pat Sr. (DeNiro) is happy to see his son home not only because he loves him, but because he sincerely believes his son brings positive juju when watching Eagles games. Pat Sr. is a bookie who bets recklessly on Eagles games against his friend Randy (Herman), a Cowboys fan. One reason DeNiro is so endearing in this role is because we sense how much he loves his family, who he'd like to act as his support system for his own OCD during Eagles games.
Along the way, Pat Jr. meets Tiffany Maxwell, the sister of his best friend's wife whose husband recently died. She coped with the death by having sex with everyone in her office which caused her to lose her job. She's barely hanging on to sanity, but she finds she likes Pat Jr. and even offers to have sex with him right after they meet. Moments later, we find she doesn't want sex as much as someone to hold and grieve with. That person is Pat Jr. Because Nikki has a restraining order against Pat Jr, Tiffany offers to give her Pat Jr.'s letter offering reconciliation in exchange for becoming her partner at a Philadelphia dance competition. This is not a movie where Pat and Tiffany suddenly become Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but there is a sweet payoff involving a parlay between Pat Sr. and Randy over the results of the contest.
Pat Jr. is drawn to Tiffany even if he won't admit it to himself. He turns down sex with Tiffany because he still has delusions Nikki will take him back. He thoroughly believes this, and fails to see Tiffany loves him. But Tiffany subtly inserts herself into his head and heart. Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy with an edge. It earned Lawrence a Best Actress Oscar, nominations for DeNiro and Weaver, and gave Cooper not only his first Best Actor nomination, but he would earn multiple nominations and awards season gravitas for years to come.
Silver Linings Playbook, adapted from the Matthew Quick novel and directed by David O. Russell, gives us imperfect people all trying to fit their quirks into a life which satisfies them. It charms in spite of itself. Normally, romantic comedies are chock full of thinly drawn people who think we should be involved with them because they are trying to find love. Silver Linings Playbook's characters are complex, edgy, and touchingly human. Pat's and Tiffany's relationship doesn't fall easily into togetherness. They fight it every step of the way, but that makes the payoff all the more satisfying in the end. David O. Russell would reassemble the principals of this cast in American Hustle (2013) and Joy (2015). Both were good movies, but they didn't approach Silver Linings Playbook in terms of how they presented desperate characters and made them lovable. I wonder how this group would've reacted to the Eagles finally winning the Super Bowl in 2018.
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