Silver Linings Playbook - 4 smiles

With “Silver Linings Playbook,” director David O. Russell has pulled off a tricky feat: finding just the right tone in crafting a romantic comedy whose sweethearts suffer from bipolar disorder and depression. He takes you from mental illness and adultery to football obsession and competitive dance and when it’s over, you’re amazed that everything works. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence give inspired performances that allow them to play against type as the unlikely couple at the center of this romance. After roles in Winter’s Bone and Hunger Games, Lawrence impresses with yet another facet of her talent. On the flip side, Cooper gets a rare chance to demonstrate his acting ability. There’s rawness as his character strives to convince himself that he deserves a happy ending.

Cooper is Pat Solatano, a teacher who’s just been released from a mental hospital at the film’s start. He suffered a breakdown when he caught his wife in the shower with one of her co-workers. Now, having lost his marriage, home and career, he hopes to start over – and that starts by moving back in with his parents. Robert De Niro does some of his best work in years as Pat Sr., a hardcore Philadelphia Eagles fan whose game-time superstitions have long since developed into full-blown obsessive-compulsive disorder and Jacki Weaver, who was so formidable in Animal Kingdom, is effective as Pat’s loyal, long-suffering mother. Pat tries to take all the right steps to further his recovery – attending therapy sessions with a no-nonsense Dr. Patel (a funny Anupam Kher), running every day – but he just can’t accept that his wife wants nothing to do with him. Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence) at a small dinner party hosted by his friend (John Ortiz) and his wife (Julia Stiles). Tiffany is recently widowed after the death of her police-officer husband and fired from her job. And like Pat, she has no internal filter so this first meeting is full of sharp banter and spectacularly inappropriate observations. “Silver Linings Playbook” will garner Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and probably Best Actor nominations. You’ll certainly want to see this soon. Nov. 21, 2012