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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 12/15/2012 : 10:48:40
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Well I'm not sure it deserves Film of the Year, but it's a fine feel-good rom-dram-com.
As revealed in some of his earlier films [e.g. The Fighter] screenwriter/director David O Russell's interest homes in on triumph over potential tragedy without sacrificing too much blood, guts and reality. That makes for genre fairy tales with several twists.
On the face of it a bi-polar hero freed from jail, back in the bosom of a family headed by OCD dad and Zen-ly tolerant mom, who wants to get himself together, no really! and entangles himself in a relationship with an equally troubled but hot wannabe dancer and still find a way to regain his broken marriage -- well, on the face of it, doesn't sound like too many laughs, right?
Wrong. Some of this is ripe for gentle comedy and not the making fun of the emotionally disturbed kind, either.
Sharing a large slice of the credit and backed by some terrific cameos, are the three leads. Bradley Cooper is the guy, the actor totally in control of Patrick the character. He's perfectly judged how far to push his moments of mania which never become parody. How Jennifer Lawrence [remember her remarkable performance in Winter's Bone]has been able to produce a character of such dimension, fun, pain and passion as Tiffany is all the more impressive considering she's still in her early 20s.
Though he doesn't get miles of screen-time you simply cannot dismiss Robert De Niro's touching, tragic yet sometimes hilarious portrait of Cooper's dad Pat Sr.
Russell is mostly successful at containing a novel that jumps a lot, much like the emotional life of the characters. Still, at just over two hours, there are some snips that could have been made to advantage.
Overall, and this isn't meant to disparage, it reminded me a bit of Blue Valentine. Not, I hasten to add because of theme or plot, but in the rehearsal of the human journey. Especially involving damaged people. This is probably a consequence of having seen so many, many films.
As I say, Silver Linings is a feel-good flick. So, you won't get any profundity about mental health, but you will feel good.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 12/16/2012 : 10:45:25
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I also think it's enjoyable but vastly overrated by the critical community. [Truth be told, that's how I felt about WINTER'S BONE as well.] Great acting in quirky roles -- you forgot the impressive Jacki Weaver, who stunned us all in ANIMAL KINGDOM -- but essentially a minor if solid piece.
Re your avatar, it puts me in mind of the Sixties supergroup with the comedian, the diva, the country star and the newslady. I refer, of course, to Cosby, Sills, Cash & Chung. |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 06/07/2013 : 03:05:19
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Saw this last night. I was rather shocked to see that this had eight Oscar nominations, I'd have given it none.  I guess 2012 must have been a bad year for movies...
Not sure why it's considered a 'comedy'; 'generic, light-hearted romantic drama' would be my description, with the overused "let's make our characters more interesting by creating fake mental illnesses that don't actually exist in real life" plot tool.
I'm not blaming the otherwise-pretty-good cast for the end result when all they were given to work with were contrived characters, a generic script and a thoroughly predictable outcome.
6/10 (scrapes through with a pass, I guess)
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Silver Linings Playbook
