It’s
official: David O. Russell has gone mainstream. I don’t mean that as a bad
thing; it’s not like he’s gone off and started making Transformers when we weren’t paying attention. In fact, I rather
like this new guy. Though he made his feature debut in 1994 with some movie starring Jeremy Davis
called Spanking the Monkey, which
sounds just about as bizarre as its title suggests, Russell broke out with the Gulf
War-set Three Kings, later followed
by the quirky, love-it-or-hate-it comedy I
Heart Huckabees. Still, it wasn’t until 2010, when he made The Fighter with frequent collaborator
Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, that the director really received widespread
recognition. That movie went on to become a major awards contender, ultimately
garnering a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars as well as a nomination for
Russell and wins for Bale and supporting actress Melissa Leo. After winning the
top
prize at the Toronto Film Festival in September, it looks like Russell’s
latest, Silver Linings Playbook,
might be headed in the same direction.
This swell of awards buzz is
well-deserved but, frankly, rather surprising, seeing as the movie itself seems
to have no such lofty intentions, eschewing the showy ambition that usually
characterizes Oscar hopefuls for something far more modest. All things
considered, in terms of narrative, Silver
Linings Playbook is pretty much just your standard romantic comedy. It’s
certainly as predictable as one, adhering for the most part to the conventional
boy-meets-girl structure without throwing any particularly unexpected
curveballs or game-changing twists. Of course Bradley Cooper and Jennifer
Lawrence are going to end up together, so it’s just a matter of how they get
there, one of those “it’s the journey, not the destination” deals. The
difference between Russell’s film and the generic Katherine Heigl/Jennifer
Aniston vehicles that have made the genre a target of derision is that we actually
care about that journey. Where most rom-coms are cloying and annoyingly
artificial, this Playbook sings with
honesty and unreserved exuberance every step of the way.
Instead of populating his cast with the usual bland, stock characters,
Russell gives us people who feel as real as they are endearing; it’s easy to
buy into the romance between Pat and Tiffany (Cooper’s and Lawrence’s respective
characters), because we’re falling in love with them just as they slowly,
inevitably fall for each other. Though they’re accompanied by a likable and
more-than-capable supporting cast, including Robert DeNiro, who gives arguably
his best performance in years, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are
undoubtedly the heart and soul of the movie. Together, they’re exquisite, their
chemistry sweet and electrifying despite a rather sizable age difference
between the two actors.
After skyrocketing to A-list fame with Wedding Crashers and The
Hangover, Cooper has since been frequently pigeonholed into a certain
attractive-but-arrogant douche character type. Here, he finally gets the chance
to show off some real dramatic chops. The temptation to over-act and chew
scenery must have been strong, but unlike many actors who portray mentally
unstable characters, he doesn’t turn Pat into a neurotic bundle of tics and
theatrical affectations, portraying him as a human being, someone you might
bump into on the street, rather than as a specimen to be examined. Maintaining
an intense yet strangely calm stare throughout the film (I swear he never
blinked even once), Cooper brings a giddy, eager boyishness to the role while conveying
the inner desperation and frustrations that often threaten to overwhelm his
character. It’s a quietly impressive performance that proves Cooper is more
than just another pretty face.
While the movie is largely told
from Pat’s point-of-view, it’s actually Tiffany’s story as much as it is his. As
the emotionally fragile widow whom Pat befriends, Jennifer Lawrence is an
absolute joy to watch. At turns charming, caustic and heartbreakingly vulnerable,
she imbues her character with a depth all too rarely seen in romantic heroines.
She demonstrates an admirable fearlessness in exploring the messy, often contradictory
nature of the role, and the result is nothing short of mesmerizing.
As a matter of fact, the same
could be said of the film as a whole. Despite the consistently light, breezy
tone and an ending that some might find a little too tidy, the movie has a bit
more substance than you might think at first glance. For one, it deals rather
prominently with mental illness, a topic that Russell handles in a refreshingly
respectful and pragmatic manner; neither Pat nor Tiffany is treated as a freak
or an uncannily insightful saint, and their issues never wholly define them as
characters or feel like flimsy personality traits designed to make them quirky.
Plus, economic concerns play a major role in the story, as several of the
characters have recently lost their jobs and the climax hinges on a bet that
could lead to either financial relief or ruin. The characters themselves are
frequently selfish, insensitive and manipulative, yet none of them are vilified
– not even Nikki, Pat’s wife, whose affair with one of his colleagues triggered
the breakdown that lands him in a mental hospital at the beginning of the film.
Deep down, they’re all decent, sympathetic people striving to find some measure
of happiness, however slight, in a stressful, apathetic world.
Russell manages to make this
idea – that we’re all just searching for a silver lining, promises of a better
tomorrow to get through each day – feel relatable and sincere, an authentic
truth rather than some naïve fantasy, never stooping to either melodrama or
crude comedy. Silver Linings Playbook
is proof that movies don’t need to be dark, depressing and cynical in order to
feel real. Striking a perfect balance between funny and poignant, it’s a
crowd-pleaser in the best possible way.
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