Review of Silver Linings Playbook (2012) by Jett W — 18 Feb 2014

Boy, what a complete and utter masterpiece. I was mesmerised, captivated, touched and entertained by watching this. Yes, here and then, the whole bipolar disordered is treated too lightly, with too much humour, but I can excuse that for twitchin' studios trying to keep their film box office material.

The performances are great, especially by Cooper and De Niro. I liked Lawrence in her role but am not sure she deserved an Academy Award, it kind of plays to her strength as an actress and person anyway, while I found De Niro much more authentic, touching and believable.

This might be the one thing I loved about this film, all the character have so many dimensions to them, good sides, bad sides, ambigious sides. A truthful depiction of the human condition and the contrast of Pat and Tiffany's "clinically diagnosed" form of insanity against the "everyday" insanity of all the "normal" people is quite a kick in the hornet's nest when one comes to think of that thin line between normalitiy and insanity in our society.

The ending is an ode to joy and love for life, maybe a tad to Hollywood, but then again, we had to endure enough throughout the film and I think it is importance to make that statement of hope in relation to people with mental disorders being able to overcome their problems.

A great OST and cinematography rounds this off. Left me speechless.