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Film: Silver Linings Playbook
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert de Niro, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, Chris Tucker
Director: David O Russell
Am I the only one who believes ‘the silver lining of every cloud’ to be one of the many fancy proverbs that do not happen to ordinary folks? The fun part is, this film actually turned out to be a silver lining when I expected a dark, gloomy cloud. Junior will probably get B minus or worse in her Hindi test because her tuition teacher was watching Silver Linings Playbook. So you can understand the irritation with which I sat down to watch it. Then I started to grin. Goofily. Throughout the movie.
Pat (Cooper) is just out of the loony bin. He had an incident with his loving wife and her equally loving paramour eight months before. Diagnosed of bipolar disorder, he was sent to a mental institution instead of a physical one. Now he is out and living with his folks (de Niro and Weaver), attending therapy sessions with the awesomely-named Dr Cliff Patel (Kher) and trying to get back with his wife. He meets Tiffany (Lawrence), a young widow with a promiscuity problem, who could help him reunite with his wife. She wants him to be her dancing partner in a competition in return.
Silver Linings Playbook straddles genres, in a good way. It has drama, romance, dance and sports, but it is best enjoyed as a comedy. Once you see it for its comic moments, the rest slowly envelop you. The third act may irritate you with its commonness, but the journey there is fresh and likable.
Say what you may about his movies, but David O Russell is one director who coaxes great performances from his actors. Bradley Cooper comes out with a very surprising turn that shows that he is just not a looker. Robert de Niro is as restrained as he could be in a typical Robert de Niro role. Jacki Weaver and Julia Stiles are wasted in bit roles that never let them get into their groove, but Chris Tucker, in his first non-Rush Hour role since 1997’s Jackie Brown is actually quiet. Anupam Kher gets to shout out John McClane’s favourite word.
Jennifer Lawrence enters with a “How who died?” and walks away with the movie. She affects you as an expressive character without ever being overtly loud. You simple cannot take your eyes off her, or, for that matter, her eyes. You know what happens when Meryl Streep first appears in a Meryl Streep movie? This is just like that. I have not seen any of Jennifer’s other movies, but it is scary how good she is in this one.
You don’t look for subtlety, apart from the performances, in a David O Russell movie. Silver Linings Playbook is no different. It does veer away to sentimentality and melodrama at times. But when it does not, the film treads the fine line expertly. It is not here to give insights about mental health or baseball or dancing. It is just here to tell a story. And it does that well.
Film: Looper
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt
Director: Rian Johnson
Fucking brilliant.
Pardon the language. But sometimes the best definition of the movie you saw would be the first words you have after seeing it. Mine was, “Fucking brilliant”. I may have seen more “brilliant” movies and, a few weeks and viewings later, might kick myself for thinking this movie brilliant. But those were my words. And I would any day be open to a movie that leaves me satisfied just after seeing it, come what may later.
Remember Face Off, where you could count the similarities between Nicholas Cage and John Travolta on one finger – both are Species homo sapiens male? Well, try imagining JGL and Willis as the same person, one younger and the other older. Trust me, no amount of “subtle mannerisms” could make you believe it. So, let’s just accept the fact and move forward.
With arguably THE stand-out opening line I have heard in movies recently – “Time travel hasn’t been invented yet, but it will be in 30 years” – Looper grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go even when the credits roll. A looper is an assassin working in 2044 for the mob of 2074. Because of new technology, getting rid of a body in 2074 is next to impossible. So the mob guys transport their unwanted vermin back to 2044 where the looper waits.
The youngest, but most promising of the loopers is Joe (Gordon-Levitt), a smart cookie who saves up half the payment he receives so that he could one day go to France. One day things don’t go according to plan. The victim (Willis) arrives, but he is not tied up as was usually the case. He also escapes. And he is the future self of Joe. Young Joe has to catch and kill Old Joe before the mob gets them both. But Old Joe seems to be working on a different agenda altogether.
It’s time travel and it will never make sense, regardless of what sci fi nuts say. If you could go back to a specific time and alter what happened, what would happen if you went five minutes before? Would you see you coming from the future the previous time? Anyways, chuck it all. Time travel is just a plot device. Director Johnson has bigger things up his sleeve. And among it is an existential question about upbringing, of all things. He unfolds the events at a furious pace, but never once does it appear rushed. Johnson has taken the sci fi genre to tell a totally human conflict.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues his impressive run. Reuniting with Johnson after he headlined the latter’s debut feature Brick, JGL shows a grittier side, but still brings his vulnerability to the fore. Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt are solid in supporting roles. The most incredible piece of casting has to be Jeff Daniels. The baby-faced actor is chilling as an all-out villain.
Looper is an experience. It may blow your mind or leave you unsatisfied. But the chances of it leaving you unchanged are almost nil. 2012 may have been a pretty average year for sci fi, so being the best is no great shakes. 2013, however, is the most sought-after sci fi year for a long time. But can its movies come out of the long shadow cast by Looper?
