Movie Review: "Silver Linings Playbook"

"Silver Linings Playbook": B+.  There is an old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." When Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is done serving his plea-bargained eight month tour in a Baltimore mental institution, all he can think about is getting back together with his estranged wife Nikki, who has a restraining order against him. The reason Pat is in trouble stems from his violent attack on Nikki's lover, an older teaching colleague of Pat's. Bradley Cooper is at his best playing a role which requires him to be flirting with disaster and ready to burst upon the slightest provocation. He is a man wired tighter than a drum, living on the edge. Yet, he has his "normal" moments, such as reconnecting with his parents (Robert Di Nero and Jacki Weaver) and long-time friend Ronnie who welcomes him back home to Philadelphia.

In most movies I've seen about a mentally disturbed person trying to regain his footing in society, there is a rock solid character with her feet on the ground who coaches the disturbed person back to normalcy, or at least to the point where a comeback is possible. The unique aspect of Silver Linings Playbook ("SLP") is that the character who is in the best position to make the most inroads with Pat is Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), and she has problems of her own. Tiffany, a new widow, is the younger sister of Ronnie's wife, Veronica, who in turn is a good friend of Nikki. Pat meets Tiffany when the two of them are separately invited to Ronnie and Veronica's house for dinner. Things don't go particularly well between Pat and Tiffany, and the evening ends when Pat declines Tiffany's invitation to get under the sheets. However, they keep running into each other, particularly while jogging in the neighborhood, and before long they realize that each is uniquely qualified to do a huge favor for the other. Tiffany can aid Pat in delivering his letters to Nikki, a violation of the restraining order, and Pat can partner up with Tiffany for a ballroom dance contest she deeply desires to enter. Yes, that latter subplot is pretty far-fetched, but because this turns out to be a comedy - - a fact I did not pick up on right away - - we are willing to go with it.

Speaking of comedy, Robert DiNero as Pat's dad is a natural. He is an obsessed fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, and his main source of income is functioning as a bookie. We learn that he is banned from attending Eagles games because, even though he is sixty-five years old, he has gotten into too many fights in the stands. Therefore, he has to settle for dressing in an Eagles jersey to watch the games at home on TV. He has a huge video tape library of Eagles games. He is not sure how to deal with his mentally insecure son, but his main concern is that his son's new relationship with Tiffany, such as it is, is spoiling the "juju" for his beloved Eagles.

We are not too sure Pat shouldn't be back in the psychiatric ward. He goes nuts whenever he hears My Cherie Amour by Stevie Wonder, because it was his and Nikki's wedding song. (Wouldn't you know that song is playing in the waiting room of his shrink's office during his first visit back from the institution?) He wakes up his parents in the middle of the night when he can't find his wedding video. In an effort to impress Nikki, he undertakes a mission to read every book which Nikki has in her teaching syllabus, then literally throws one of those books, Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms,through his bedroom window pane when it upsets him. Whenever he gets rowdy, such as at an Eagles pre-game tailgate party or during a loud argument with his parents, a cop shows up threatening to "take him back to Baltimore."

Tiffany does not coddle Pat. She goes toe to toe with him during every one of their frequent verbal spats. This is a much different Jennifer Lawrence than her Katniss Everdeen character from The Hunger Games. She is a foul-mouthed, street wise and hardened woman who doesn't back down from confrontations. In fact, she instigates some of them herself. Only twenty-two years of age, Lawrence could some day have a resume as accomplished as Meryl Streep. She is that good an actress. By the way, for the sake of comparison, Bradley Cooper is thirty-seven. The age difference between the two leads in SLP does not seem that apparent, a credit to both actors.

There are a lot of good scenes in SLP, but the sum of the parts exceeds the whole. Editing a few extraneous moments and re-writing the last several minutes would have resulted in a tighter script and a better product. Still, when you lay your money down it's for the purpose of being entertained. In that regard, there is no quibble. I will be very interested to find out early next year what award nominations this film generates.