Review

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Released: 2012
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence & Bradley Cooper

Grade: A

  

When you meet someone for the first time you probably run through a checklist of labels which help you conceptualize that person: male or female, old or young, gay or straight, married or single. Society seems to be creating more and more specific labels, words to identify people by their food habits, religious sects, age group, and ethnicity. (You can now introduce yourself as a panethnic, Protestant, pescatarian preteen.) Particularly in the field of mental health, labels (in the form of diagnoses) are constantly being refined. Centuries ago people were defined as either sane or crazy. As scientists learned more about the brain and the field of psychology rose to prominence, a whole arrange of conditions between sane and crazy emerged: ADHD, bipolar disorder, manic depression, OCD, dementia, Aspergers. These labels are undoubtedly a good thing. They help doctors and patients identify and treat conditions that in the past would have been written off as untreatable mental instability. But you also run into the danger of being defined solely by a label. “My gay friend Steve.” “My Jewish friend, Anna.” “Alan, the one with bipolar disorder.”

Silver Linings Playbook examines labels: the ones that are diagnosed clinically, the ones we give ourselves, and the ones others give to us. The film follows Patrick (Bradley Cooper) a former high school sub who has just finished an eight month stint in a mental institution after brutally assaulting the man he caught having an affair with his wife. Released on a legal technicality, Patrick returns to his Philadelphia home to live with his parents Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro). Patrick is determined to get in shape and win back his wife, a woman currently holding a restraining order against him. He’s got good days and bad, sometimes functioning fairly well in society, other times driving himself to hysterics over a song.

Patrick meets his equal in Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) a young woman with her own set of labels. She’s the widow of a former cop, she’s a “whore” who channeled her grief into sexual energy, and she’s the “screw-up” of the family compared to her successful older sister. Like Patrick, she’s been on every antidepressant under the sun. She too lacks a filter and projects an edgy, forceful persona that keeps her one step removed from those around her. Tiffany agrees to help Patrick get in touch with his ex-wife if he agrees to partner with her for a big dance contest. It’s a set-up that feels less contrived onscreen than it does on paper, and it works because of the natural chemistry between Cooper and Lawrence. They are both tentative yet aggressive, scaring people off even as they yearn for companionship. Perhaps because they are the two most heavily labeled people, they are able to see past the other's labels.

The film examines the impact a label can have on whether we view someone as sane or crazy. Pat Sr. makes his money betting on sports games. He folds handkerchiefs, carefully places remote controls in specific locations, and counts envelopes to send along good luck to his Philadelphia Eagles. While the younger Patrick’s stint at the institute has permanently labeled him as “crazy,” Pat Sr.’s condition goes largely unlabeled. To some he's exhibiting symptoms of OCD, to others he's expressing the normal quirks of a sports fan. Then there’s Patrick’s seemingly stable neighbor who admits to thrashing around to Metallica in his garage when he feels upset. After all, he reasons, “You can’t be happy all the time.”

That’s a lesson Patrick is unwilling to take to heart. He’s determined that with a little effort and self-discipline, he can make his life perfect. (The film’s title comes from Patrick’s positive-thinking, “silver linings” philosophy.) He makes mistakes and has unexpected outbursts, but he’s sure that if he can just explain himself on paper, write out what he meant to do, things will be okay. It’s a feeling I’ve had many times, and Patrick’s determination to get in touch with his wife and explain everything to her, though obsessive on the outside, probably isn’t too far off from desires we’ve all had. But Patrick’s history of institutionalization will forever color people’s perception of him. His behavior is labeled as unstable, yet my similar behavior may not be.

For all of it’s heavy subject matter, Silver Linings Playbook remains surprisingly enjoyable throughout. It’s a sardonic comedy that can flip on a dime to something much weightier. While it’s got some of the contrivances of a rom com, it thankfully exceeds the genre’s limitations. The laughs come quickly and often until suddenly they stop, brought to a screeching halt by an offhanded comment. And that perhaps is the best representation of Patrick’s struggle with controlling his aggression. He’s fine until he’s not. It’s a masterful understanding of tone and director/writer David O. Russell has crafted a film that takes itself seriously without losing its sense of fun. Cooper and Lawrence are both fantastic, playing against type and seeming to have a blast doing so. While I expected nothing less from the always-terrific Lawrence, Cooper proves here that he’s more than just a sculpted face and chiseled abs.

Russell doesn’t come to any grand conclusions about the dangers of labeling, but I’m not sure he needs to. This isn’t a film about mental health as a whole; it’s a film about one man and how he deals with his own issues. We label things to understand them, to give us a frame of reference. There’s not a way we can exist without labeling the world around us, and the best we can do is try to remember that the words we use to describe something are only the tip of the iceberg. And that’s where Silver Linings Playbook really shines. It’s a story that presents characters in a way that both embraces their labels and looks beneath them.

Reality factor: As he proved in The Fighter, director David O Russell has a great eye for capturing the family unit of the working class. Everything from the wallpaper to the food (crabby snacks and homemades) feels grounded in the grit and grease of real life.  [4 out of 5]

Eye-candy factor: Bradley Cooper is dressed in baggy sweatpants and trash bags for most of the film, which makes his dance contest ensemble seem that much more dapper. [4 out of 5]

Aww factor: The film’s finale may be too sentimental for some, but I thought it was a well earned and heartfelt moment that didn’t stray too far into fantasy. [4 out of 5]