Monday, February 4, 2013

Silver Linings Playbook

This weekend we went to see a movie that we normally would have avoided, Silver Linings Playbook.  A friend who has reliable taste in movies recommended it and we quite enjoyed ourselves.  An upbeat film about mentally disturbed folks!  Actually, I think the subtext of the movie is that anyone who is a Philadelphia Eagles fan is mentally disturbed (but then, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia).
The movie is about a young man (Bradley Cooper) who is released to his mother, against doctors' advice, after an eight month commitment in a mental hospital due to a breakdown and a violent incident and his attempts to reconstruct his life.  While there are some implausible plot points the film is a nice mix of serious material and humor and the movie gets funnier as it goes along.

Excellent cast.  Cooper, who I've always thought of as a comic actor does a good job in the lead.  Robert DeNiro plays his father and for the first time in years he actually turns in a nuanced performance.  Jennifer Lawrence, who I'd never seen before, is absolutely terrific and Chris Tucker, who  disappeared for a couple of years, does a very nice job as Brad's fellow mental patient.

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