I love Silver Linings Playbook Two Disc Combo
Marvelous movie. Heartwarming, Hilarious. Well cast, wonderfuly well acted....especially Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. The setting: A working class neighborhood in Philadelphia, peopled by obsessed Eagles fans and bettors. The story: Cooper's character, Pat, has spent the last several months in a mental institution, being treated for bi-polar disorder. His ex-wife has taken out a restraining order on him. Without telling Dad (De Niro), Mom (Weaver) springs Pat and brings him home. Pat has a two-point plan: 1. go off his meds, 2. get his wife back. One day, while out for a run, he runs into a quirky and feisty young widow named Tiffany who's also clinging to sanity by a thread. A wary friendship ensues. Eventually they strike a deal: she'll help him get his wife back in exchange for him helping her win a dance contest. Family and friends get involved, bets are made, stakes are high, and in their own diverse ways, everyone's future is riding on the outcome.
Get your Silver Linings Playbook Two Disc Combo Now!
Living with this illness myself, I found "Silver Linings Playbook" a reasonably accurate representation of the inside of Bi-Polar Disorder. It is not romanticized but, rather, looked at "full scope" with affects on not only the protagonist with the disorder but upon family and friends. The roots of the pathology is shown clearly through the father's obsessions and emotions, played authentically, sensitively and well by Robert DeNiro. The inside jokes of the BPD couple are so familiar and the edge upon which those with BPD reside excellently portrayed.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend this film not for an easy viewing or a heartwarming touch but for the as-accurate-as-Hollywood-can-get-it picture of what it is like to live with Bi-Polar Disorder. There are many living with this illness everyday - I, for one, felt a kinship and some comfort with this film. Our brains maybe wired differently and sometimes destructively, but there is creativity and love amidst it all. For that representation, I am deeply appreciative to "Silver Linings Playbook".
A funny, touching movie, that also gives a realistic look at mental behavior problems. It's well acted, directed, and the screen play is top notch. It was easily in my top 5 of the year and made an excellent date movie for me and my wife when we saw it a few months back.
ReplyDeleteMarvelous movie. Heartwarming, Hilarious. Well cast, wonderfuly well acted....especially Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. The setting: A working class neighborhood in Philadelphia, peopled by obsessed Eagles fans and bettors. The story: Cooper's character, Pat, has spent the last several months in a mental institution, being treated for bi-polar disorder. His ex-wife has taken out a restraining order on him. Without telling Dad (De Niro), Mom (Weaver) springs Pat and brings him home. Pat has a two-point plan: 1. go off his meds, 2. get his wife back. One day, while out for a run, he runs into a quirky and feisty young widow named Tiffany who's also clinging to sanity by a thread. A wary friendship ensues. Eventually they strike a deal: she'll help him get his wife back in exchange for him helping her win a dance contest. Family and friends get involved, bets are made, stakes are high, and in their own diverse ways, everyone's future is riding on the outcome.
ReplyDeleteAn absolutely great movie. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have two outstanding performances for which Lawrence won the Best Actress Oscar, not too mention the supporting jobs done by Robert De Niro, Jackie Weaver, Chris Tucker and many others.
ReplyDeleteSet in Philadelphia, the movie shows Pat Solitano (Cooper) returning home from a stint in a mental institution after a domestic incident with his ex-wife highlighted his struggle with bipolar mood swings. Pat moves back in with his parents (De Niro and Weaver) as her tries to get his life back together, hoping to reunite with his ex-wife. Things get very interesting when Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence), a young woman with issues of her own.
If nothing more, the movie shows that life is not always perfect. Things can get out of control and spiral. All the same, with family and friends in our lives, it's always worth moving forward.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way this movie peeled thin layers away from the onion of mental illness, depression, and learning how to love again after loss. Lawrence and Cooper both put in academy award winning performances. The writing pulled you into the story in ways that were purposefully uncomfortable and engaging. The frenzy of Cooper's mania/anxiety was transmitted into my bones - I was on the verge of walking out because it was so real that it affected me in a visceral way. Progressing through the movie, the energy changed immensely and is reflective of the storyteller and director's ability to bring that story to life. Kudos.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading these reviews, primarily the lower rated ones, I noticed a trend.. Either they were insulted by the mental health aspect of it or that it wasn't as good as the book.
ReplyDeleteLISTEN.
Movies are NEVER as good as the books. Just get used to that fact.
Also, everyone's experience with mental illness is different. Just because this isn't yours, doesn't mean it's wrong. I am bipolar and have multiple family members who are bipolar, and yes, the movie characters were an accurate representation of my personal experience with bipolar to the point where I was laughing with my mother when these characters were acting manic because members of my family have done the same exact thing, like looking for something completely unimportant in the middle of the night and NEEDED it then(the wedding video). (Mania is an diagnosing factor in bipolar disorder)
IF you did your research before seeing it- which I did- you would know that these characters were based on truly bipolar people. The director's son is bipolar. If you do not think this is an accurate representation and you are actually bipolar, you need to do some research, my friend. Talk to your psychiatrist. It's actually quite interesting- but I'm majoring in Psychology, though, so I'm a tad biased.
I enjoyed this movie. There was not a dull moment in it. The characters were well thought out and very well portrayed and acted. (I am singing praise for Jennifer Lawrence and bradley Cooper!) They had the way you talk when you are manic down perfectly, so they obviously did their research. Also, they even had Bradley Cooper's eyes DILATED. Bravo! (For those of you who don't know- the medicine he was taking makes your eyes dilated.)
Thank you, cast and crew of Silver Linings Playbook for a stellar movie that I have seen four times and so many more to come. This is now my favorite movie.