Silver Linings Playbook
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (15)
D: David O. Russell
The Weinstein Company (Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen &
Jonathan Gordon)
US 2012
117 mins
Comedy/Drama/Romance
W: David O. Russell [based on the novel
by Matthew Quick]
DP: Masanobu Takayanagi
Ed: Jay Cassidy
Mus: Danny Elfman
PD: Judy Becker
Cos: Mark Bridges
Bradley Cooper (Pat
Solatano), Jennifer Lawrence (Tiffany Maxwell), Robert DeNiro (Pat Solatano, Sr.), Jacki Weaver (Dolores Solatano), Chris Tucker (Danny),
Julia Stiles (Veronica), John Ortiz (Ronnie), Brea Bee (Nikki), Anupam Kher (Dr. Patel)
Silver Linings Playbook is amongst the very best romantic
comedies of recent years, achieving the rare feat for the romantic comedy genre of being able to appeal to men just as equally as it does its main target audience of women.
Based on the novel by Matthew Quick, writer-director David
O. Russell does a splendid job adapting the source material without resorting to mawkish sentimentality or bad taste humour.
Bradley Cooper stars as Pat Solatano, a sufferer of
bipolar disorder who, following an 8-month stint in a psychiatric hospital, moves back home with his obsessively-compulsive parents (Robert DeNiro & Jacki Weaver). Still, haunted by the
breakdown of his marriage, he is in a conflicting battle with his own emotions to re-enter his life as it once was.
He is soon introduced to Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer
Lawrence), a young woman with problems of her own following the sudden death of her husband and together they try and find the silver lining to their failed marriages.
All the performances from the ensemble cast are absolutely
fantastic (including Chris Tucker, completely cast against his usual type) and the dialogue is quick, snappy and, above all, realistic.
A modern feelgood classic.
8/10
