Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
Written by: David O. Russell, Matthew Quick (novel)
Music by: Danny Elfman
While having Jennifer Lawrence who's recent rise to fame while playing Katness Everdeen in the Hunger Games (2012) and Mystique in X-Men: First Class (2011); she's proven her self not only as a capable actress, but someone who can be well suited to pretty much anything a screen writer has to offer. And Bradley Cooper who I have yet to see in a full film rather than the trailer for it, and a socalled "quirky, realistic" film that's gotten a lot of talk from the Academy: Could this be a recipe for disaster or success?
After being released from mental health care because of attacking a man who was seen having an affair with his girlfriend; Pat (Cooper) who has bipolar disorder resides home with his mother (Weaver) and father (De Niro). When Pat's friend introduces him to Tiffany (Lawrence) who has recently had sex with dozens of men because of depression from the recent death of her husband, Pat and Tiffany start to form a friendship that makes them turn from complete strangers into unconventional lovers.
The film's script has been nominated for best screenplay by the Academy and through out the entire 2 hour run-time, no questions are asked for how that decision was made. The writing is continuously witty and never dull, always moving without leaving any unanswered questions, simple but never cliched and gives a quirky sense of emotion that is never necessarily relatable but understandable.
With Silver Linings and this year's "The Place Beyond The Pines" with Ryan Gosling, it looks like first impressions for Bradley Cooper are as good as you can get. He delivers a performance that doesn't make us feel like we're watching a good performance of a man trying to get over his disorder, but a man who actually has bipolar and is trying to control it for a better life. Jennifer Lawrence gives the performance of her career here as every time she's on screen is pure gold and the chemistry between her and Cooper is the first time I can honestly say for a film that the two main leads are as good as each other.
Robert De Niro and Jakci Weaver are brilliant and realistic as Cooper's parents, but De Niro shows a deeper reflection of his son as Cooper is trying to fix himself as a person and De Niro is trying to fix his relationship between father and son. Chris Tucker has a very annoying voice, but incredibly his acting talents and dialogue given to him cover that with a fun character.
David O. Russell shows off inventive and confident direction that gives the film a very unique "quirky" feel that like Jack Reacher proves that the writer and the director being the same person is often the best way to go. Some of the shots in the film are so creative and risky that only one time in the film, I thought it was a bit OTT. The term "quirky" has been used a lot from critics to describe this film, but it's actually a very well chosen term, the film is unlike anything you've ever experienced before in the this type of genre of film, but it's so well suited to this approach that you can't help but want to give the makers a pat on the back.
In a year of films we've seen a hundred times over, it's good to see the Academy recognizing perfect unique work that hasn't been explored before probably won't be again, but if it is; it won't live up to the high standard set by Silver Linings Playbook.
David O. Russell presents a quirky and unique piece of cinema that contains good 3 Dimensional characters portrayed by capable actors who are given a tremendous script and crew to work with. Subtle foreshadowing is absent, but is instead replaced with real human beings going through an unavoidable problem... life.
I Give Silver Linings Playbook 10/10
No comments:
Post a Comment