Silver Linings Playbook: Opinions?

I saw Silver Linings Playbook last night with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and others.

I walked in expecting to really like it, but didn’t walk out feeling that way. I found many parts of the movie disturbing and disagreeable to watch.

I’ll hold the rest of my fire for later when others chime in.

What did you think of the movie?

J.

I thought Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of debilitating mania was very good. “Disturbing and disagreeable to watch” is a good description of a bipolar person. :slight_smile:

I really wanted to like DeNiro’s character, but he made it difficult. The guy was a dick. Of course, the whole theme in the movie is that all of them are crazy in one way or another, but at least Brad had some redeeming qualities.

I am also officially tired of the Climactic Hilarious Dance Sequence.

I liked it a lot. It balances humor and drama very well, and it doesn’t get too bogged down in sentimentality. Jennifer Lawrence was very good, but Bradley Cooper was outstanding. Easily the best I’ve ever seen him.

I’m very curious as to why you found it disturbing. I can totally understand someone finding it too lightweight, but it doesn’t really strike me as a disturbing kind of movie. Was it the subject matter (specifically the portrayal of a character with bipolar disorder) that bothered you?

Looking forward to seeing it, but it hasn’t opened in any nearby theaters yet. Maybe next week.

The balance was a bit off as I often find to be the case in light comedies dealing with mental illness.

It’s a challenge, the filmmaker should strive to not trivialize mental illness and yet to realistically delve into mental illness it’s hard to maintain any light comedic tone. It’s a bit more natural a balance when dealing with a dark comedy. For a light comedy, it is difficult.

I think Director David O. Russell struggled with the balance for the first half of the movie. I found myself getting frustrated at almost all the trivial comedy bits for the first half- especially one-liners most of which were kind of hack.

Ultimately, with necessary exposition established, it committed to the light comedy. From then on I quite liked it. The scene that firmly established a consistent solid delivery through to the closing credits was the scene when Tiffany confronts Pat’s dad after the arrest at the Iggles game. I loved this scene.
As to “Climactic Hilarious Dance Sequence” I wouldn’t categorize it that way.
I think the dance came off as a realistic Fairly Good Dance Routine Performed By Two Amateur Dancers One Of Whom Was A Complete Beginner But They Practiced A Whole Lot. I actually think the performance was very good at being exactly what it was supposed to be. I do think it was meant to get a few chuckles, but in the exact same way that a real life dance routine by amateurs may get a few chuckles- not in a “Climactic Hilarious Dance Sequence” kind of a way. The only really silly part was the Lift. However, I think it is better that they screwed up the lift. They never got it in rehearsal. The cheap gag would have been if they had triumphantly succeeded with the Lift. And I think the “crisis” was accurate for two amateurs (one beginner): “Should I just put her down? But we don’t have anything choreographed with her on the floor until . . . oh crap, now is when I put her down!”
I never thought I’d see a When Harry Met Sally chase the girl down the street an explain your true feelings scene in a David O. Russell film, but they pulled it off.
Not sure yet how I rank this among David O. Russell’s films. I had consistently liked each of his films better than the previous until The Fighter. I loved The Fighter but it did not come remotely close to how much I loved I <3 Huckabess. Comparing The Fighter to Silver Linings Playbook, I’m not sure yet. The Fighter was definitely much more consistently solid filmmaking from start to finish but it was a pretty basic sports bio pic. I thought Silver Linings Playbook was a more interesting film but the delivery was less solid.

Oh, and BY THE WAY . . . Chris Tucker was awesome in this movie. The troublesome balance I focused on in the first part of this post? Chris Tucker absolutely nailed it.

I finally saw this over the weekend - it never did seem to get wide release around here, that I noticed. Maybe the Oscar nom will give it some life.

Anyway, I really liked it. Cooper, Lawrence and DeNiro were all fantastic and the rest of the cast was also great. I really liked seeing DeNiro in a non-wiseguy role that isn’t an inane Fockers sequel. (Although I guess he was a bookie, which is in the wiseguy neighborhood). Anyway, it was touching without being overly sentimental.

I’m not sure it will win any awards (maybe DeNiro) but it deserves all the accolades it’s getting.

A friend of mine dragged me to it and I expected to hate it. I ended up liking it a lot.

So, uh, the Golden Globes didn’t get wide release near you either? :wink:

(Jennifer Lawrence got one a matter of hours ago; De Niro, not so much.)

I really liked it, I put it at #6 on my top ten for the year. Every element of the film worked for me: the handling of mental illness, the central relationship, the supporting characters, the climax. I think the acheived everything it set out to do, and was a rare film that my girlfriend and I both enjoyed, so bonus points for that.

I meant Oscars, specifically. Glad to see Lawrence get the recognition (and she deserved it) but I thought Cooper and DeNiro’s performances were both even stronger. Not that Cooper could or should beat Daniel Day Lewis.

I liked it, but not nearly as much as I expected to (it’s at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes). The entire dance competition/parlay bet seemed way too contrived, and the whole insane asylum concept felt anachronistic (where is there a mental hospital these days? And if there were, who would spend 8 months in one?)
mmm

This was exactly my experience. It’s funny when you know the crammed-in happy ending is coming but you don’t care b/c the movie has earned it.

I saw this last night and really liked it. I have experience being around bipolar people so a lot of the mental health aspects rang true. Like the endless medication combos, the resistance to being medicated and impulse control issues. Also, gambling can be linked to manic phases so the dad could have been OCD and manic?

Jennifer Lawrence really owned any scene she was in but the one when she explained how she wasn’t wrecking the Eagles juju was absolutely phenomenal! Bradley Cooper was great too. You know how I can tell? As I watched the movie, I didn’t think, “Oh poor Bradley…” I thought, “Oh poor Pat…” He WAS Pat.

Also, I read elsewhere on the internets that the movie’s ending is basically Pat’s whole Hemingway critique.

I saw it over the weekend. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. I thought the acting was good, but there was nothing about the movie that made me think it deserves a ton of awards. I can’t imagine that I’d watch it again. Mr.Q left the theater saying, “So many words!” I think that sums it up pretty well.

I liked it quite a bit, but it fell flat. It took itself far too seriously for a comedy, and far too lightly for a drama - and didn’t strike any sort of balance between the two to be anything short of ill-defined. Things wrapped up far too neatly for characters the movie at least attempted to give serious weight and substance to. It took mental illness very seriously and represented it well, then smashed that all on the ground in favor of a nice neat bow to tie on it.

We just saw it yesterday and thought it was thoroughly enjoyable. It has a very Coen brothers feel to it, which isn’t a bad thing. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, two actors I’m completely unfamiliar with, turn in excellent performances as two damaged people, as do most of the supporting cast. De Niro, as the OCD father, is very funny.

There’s another thread on this, but I agree. I saw it about a week ago and found it pretty delightful, with all-around excellent performances. Speaking of which I just read yesterday that it is the first film to score an Oscar nomination in all four acting categories since Reds which was what, thirty years ago?

Damn it, I did a search and nothing came up.

I saw it when it first came out. Excellent film. Probably one of the most realistic depictions of mental illness I’ve seen in a long time. Also one of the most realistic depictions of Philadelphians I’ve seen in a long time. It deserved its nominations.

Silver Linings Playbook: Opinions?

I’ll see if a mod wants to merge them.