Review: The Silver Linings Playbook

THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
I'm not usually a sucker for a romcom but when something as cheesey as a romcom is written, edited and acted to perfection  as writer/director, David O. Russel, and, cast, Bradley Cooper(The Hangover, Limitless), Jennifer Lawrence(The Hunger Games, Winters Bone) and Robert De Niro(The Godfather II, Raging Bull, Meet the parents) provided then there is just no argument to it. From the perfect pitch perfect editing, to the pitch perfect writing and pitch perfect performances from the cast's three main stars there is no denying that this little gem of a summer-2012-blockbuster is very much deserving of its high critical acclaim, garnering an Oscar for best actress for Lawrence with 5  more nominations, four golden globe nominations, three BAFTAS nominations (Russell winning best adapted screen play).

Adapted from Mathew Quick's novel of the same name David O. Russel illuminates the screen with a well written dialogue-driven script that captures the adventures Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) dealing with his long suffering bipolar disorder that has been aggravated by the decay of his marriage. You would think losing his job, his marriage and being sent to a mental hospital would bring any man to his breaking point, no this is not true, not for Pat that is; Pat is determined for his search for his ultimate goal of a silver lining which he believes he can find if he could just get fit and get his ex-wife back or at least talk to him and with the help of the dysfunctional support network of his family which includes his obsessive compulsive sports fanatic father, Pat Solitano Senior (De Niro) and his closests friends which eventually includes the equally crazy, nymphomaniac, young widow Tiffany Maxwell (Lawrence) he might just as well succeed.

Again, Silver Linings Play books is beautifully written and acted. Lawrence captures the comedic character of Tiffany to perfection and often steels the show, you will have never seen De Niro play a character in such a way before and he does it to perfection and Bradley Cooper's Pat Solitano Junior will charm your socks off. This movie is a non-stop-barrel-of-laughs, that reaches that sweet spot between comedy and dysfunctional  that bounds the aches of beauty. This is the perfect movie for a movie date, a family get together, lonely night alone and even the most extreme of romcom deviants.

5 stars out of 5
-Ivan

By the numbers
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Metacritic: 81%
Budget: $21'000'000
Gross: $236'412'453 --> more than 11 times its budget

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