Silver Linings Playbook

The best way to cure or take care of a person whose mental health isn’t that comfortable is to make them spent time with equally challenged people. Director David O Russell’s film, Silver Linings Playbook which one many nominations and grabbed the best actress award in this year’s Oscars is a movie about such people who finds it difficult to express their stress.

The plot revolves around the guy Pat Solitano who was in the mental hospital for eight months for brutally attacking his wife’s secret lover. His parents are trying to help him by making things comfortable for him, but his crazy mindset to find his wife who left the house after the incident drives him crazy and at times causes legal trouble as he has restraining orders. In the meantime he happens to meet Tiffany who is also in a mentally irritated state due to her husband’s demise. The movie basically is about the influence of Tiffany and his parents in Pat’s life.

Well the plus point of this story is its humorous and practical take on complicated issues regarding relationships and second chances. Even though Pat and Tiffany are having psychological issues the makers have given different shades to their attitude. With a whole bunch of characters including a superstitious dad and always caring mother the plot helps the audience to carry a smile throughout the movie. The second half has some cliché’s to make the chemistry working between the leading protagonists but the interesting Parlay inclusion makes that portion interesting.

On screen, Bradely Cooper has done a fabulous job as the miserable Pat. Loved the way he gets panicky (The marriage video scene). Jennifer Lawrence on the other hand is also super charged as Tiffany. I think the second half of the offers her lot to perform and she deserves the Oscar for this portrayal. Robert Di Nero also gave a superb on screen performance as the superstitious dad who desperately wants to see his son living a normal life. Rest of the cast also did their part very well including Anupam Kher as the psychiatrist.

The direction is quite cool and the practically written screenplay was executed beautifully. The cinematography is good enough to convey and the edits are also smooth. The dialogs had its charm and as I said it never went to a melodramatic level, even though the plot had all the dramatic contents. The inclusion of dance was a bit typical.

Overall, Silver Linings Playbook is a cheerful film that navigates through the minds of the lonely hearts. I am giving 3.5/5 for this non typical rom com. It’s a must watch at least for its performance.