Silver Lining in a Silver Cloud

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.