Silver Linings Playbook

      According to IMDB, Silver Linings Playbook is about: "Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet - and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives." Written by The Weinstein Company.

    

     It should come as no shock when I say that this movie is amazing. True, I spent more time thinking than feeling, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. And it's not the film's fault at all; this movie was shot beautifully, with emotionally-charged musical moments and slow-motion sequences that made my heart swell. But perhaps knowing you're going to be writing about a movie and thinking of all its possible implications makes it difficult to fully get into. When you're trying to gauge the quality of a performance, the underlying meanings of every line, and the weaving in-and-out of social issues, it's kind of rough.

     But I think that compliments my number one mantra in life: Low Expectations. In Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper's character is all about Excelsior. And I'm all about the power of minimized expectations. I've been way too excited about this movie for way too long, physically unable to get my ass to a movie theater. So I think it's safe to say that my expectations were too high for this film, only because they were too far into the stratosphere for anyone to see. While I wasn't emotionally impacted by this movie, I know it was incredible. I KNOW it, from an intellectual and observational standpoint. So keep that in mind (bud-um-ching). Besides, my mother was full of enough warm fuzzies for the both of us.

(Photo from jenniferlawrencedaily.com)

     I am in love with this movie visually. The colors in combination with the high aperture and surprising camera choices made the film really fun to watch. Some of my favorite scenes coupled the traditional, but exceptionally wonderful and romantic and soft music pieces with these insanely quick camera zooms that shouldn't have fit at all... and yet they did. This movie is a mismatched heaven. Like the contrast of Stevie Wonder's "Ma Cherie Amour" and beating the living shit out of someone. It's all in the juxtaposition. And at times, soft music paired itself with tender moments that complimented each other as expected. My favorite of these sequences was the dancing bit with "Girl from North Country" by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Too in love with that song to not. Also, visual goodies to look out for: Jennifer Lawrence's dark style and what I perceive to be a very New England color scheme. What I'm trying to say is, this film is an aesthetic goddess.

     
     The performances in this movie, also not surprisingly, were incredible! Every actor brought their A-game, and each made choices that distinctly separated each character's personality. Though each performance matched in quality, none of them were similar. Jacki Weaver was timid and loving, only just barely keeping herself from shattering under the weight of her family's own dysfunction. But she was more than the mother who cries in the background... she held her own. Bradley Cooper played his role without pity for his character's condition (thank god) and just enough delusion to remain believable. He wasn't a gimmick, and was able to openly weep and resist the urge to explode and babble about the hopeless cause that was once his marriage without going over the top. Pat was a multi-faceted person. Which is what I love about the characters in this film-- they feel like real people. 

     And that is specifically why I think Jennifer Lawrence did amazingly in this movie. She was perfect; she spent a good portion of the movie in a fit of immature screaming, but it was so complimentary of who her character was. It was screaming like that of a little girl. She was confusing and chaotic and damaged in a way that was so opposite of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The credit for that one goes to the writers and her. And I'm so incredibly thankful for that, because I feel like her character could have so easily been a tool to peel back the layers of Bradley Cooper's character, one who heals him and makes him appreciate the joys of life, instead of a fully-developed woman herself. But she was. And Jennifer Lawrence did everything wonderfully, with her performance exuding equal parts comedy and tragedy.

     I'd say my favorite performance from the film was definitely Robert De Niro, though. His character really took me by surprise. I thought he was just there to be the father, to be heartbroken by his son's illness and expecting Pat to get better too quickly. But his character was so much more than that. Robert De Niro's role honestly made the movie for me. Its existence added a million and one dimensions to the film, and I think it wouldn't have been half the movie it was without Robert De Niro. He was absolutely stunning. But I'm sure that doesn't come as a shock to anyone.

(Photo from blackfilm.com)

     Which leads me into my next point: I found this film's approach to mental illness incredibly interesting. I think it explored the many layers that come with such a sensitive topic, which only added to the realness of it all. Each character brought up a different assertion about mental illness in our society. Jacki Weaver personified that feeling of not knowing how to handle your love one's mood disorder, even at times pretending it doesn't exist in an effort to achieve normality. And there were so many people that couldn't disguise their fear to even be in the same vicinity as Pat. Which isn't unwarranted; he almost killed a man. But I think the intertwining of these character attributes represent very common opinions in regard to mental illness, the fear of what we don't understand and cannot predict. But, I do feel that John Ortiz's character represents that part in us that practices violent behavior, how that fucked up tendency can be within everyone, even those who are considered to be "normal." So there's a quality that can be related to, and empathy to clearly be had by the viewer.

Robert De Niro's character evoked a lot of really fascinating topics in my opinion, especially how one generation treats mental illness vs. the next. When Bradley Cooper's character snaps and beats the shit out of someone, he's sent to a mental facility, and yet in his father's day, he could get kicked out of Eagle's stadium for getting into numerous fistfights without such consequences. His father is allowed to get away with practicing completely irrational superstitions without being corrected. He is clearly not in the most balanced state of mind, and yet everyone is willing to play along for him. No one tries to correct the father's mental issues, but Pat isn't allowed to go on so much as a run without harassment. 

      I think the placement of Robert De Niro's character (and Jennifer Lawrence's character, Tiffany, who I'll get to in a second) opposite of Bradley Cooper's character also really touches on the idea that some mental disorders are a lot more accepted by our culture than others. Oh, you have completely incoherent superstitions, bet thousands of dollars based on these nonsensical ideas, and blame the loss of an entire football team on one girl? Go for it! You like to blast Metallica and break the things in your garage to let off steam? It's a secret; no need to stop you! You feel the need to control every aspect of your life to a frightening degree? Well, that's your business. There are certain unhealthy practices that we as a society accept. And yet when it is labelled a mental illness, there is an incredible amount of shame and superiority involved. It can be seen from Pat's return home, and the first thing he sees is his portrait, on the floor below his brother's. It can be seen in the way that a kid thinks he has the right to show up and videotape someone he believes to be having a 'psychotic episode.' It can be seen when everyone warns Pat to stay away from Tiffany as though she is contagious and of no worth because she 'goes to a lot of therapy.' Even Pat does it, completely rejecting Tiffany and viewing himself as superior when her coping mechanism involves a string of promiscuity.

     Of course, such a moment has sexist implications as well. Many in our society see promiscuity as a bad thing. But this movie doesn't slut-shame! In fact, it dealt with the issue surprisingly well in my opinion. It recognized that some women have a lot of sex because they want to and its their bodies to do what they please with, while also acknowledging that Tiffany specifically is doing so as a means of unhealthily coping with her depression. There's this scene where a creep shows up at Tiffany's door, and I love what Bradley Cooper's character says to him. It's something along the lines of, "there's a time when this is okay, and then there's a time when someone's got a broken wing to be mended. And hers is being fixed." So there's an acknowledgment there that it is totally okay for woman to have casual sex, but there are also instances where a broken person is doing it in an attempt, an ultimately unsuccessful attempt, to fix themselves.

     Also, there's a really lovely part where Pat calls Tiffany a slut and she just yells at him (I can't quote okay I saw the movie a few hours ago but I'm doing my best), "Yeah! I was a big slut, but I'm not anymore and you know what, I accept and love that part of myself. Do you?!" Tiffany calls Pat out multiple times when he treats her as lesser for her promiscuity, which I think are important moments for both woman and people of mental illness: there should be no feeling of superiority or shame when it comes to the different levels "crazy," and yet everyone acts as though there is. As though some are lesser because of their mood disorders. I think in this film, the shame that comes with mental disorders, and the insensitivity or inability to understand of those without diagnosed illnesses are very relevant to our culture.  

     I know this is a big block of text, but beyond the obviously great performances and stylistic godliness, I am so glad for this film to get more and more recognition because I think it could be a window into the way we see mental illness! Even though I've read an article saying it unintentionally insults those with mental disorders, at least it may get us talking! (I however, don't see any offenses... but then again, I don't have a mental illness. Tell me what you think?)

SO GO SEE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK! PLEASE!

 (Photo from thealtantic.com)