Silver Linings Playbook

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SPOILER BUT YA FOR REAL

SPOILER BUT COME ON NOT REALLY

I hated the two kissing scenes. they felt out of character. but I think most onscreen kisses are pretty terrible. the girl looked older and acted older and held her own all the way until the kiss.

I respected that, but man, like that's not what you wanted to happen... because really, the guy looked older and acted older and held his own all the way until the kiss... and maybe that's just how we get in those moments.

[pete]

I've never seen a good kiss in which the camera spins around. I think that's a lazy move that's way below O'Russel's game that substitutes a genuine moment with genuine emotions for something the audience has seen so frequently before.

[©brad]

Aw I liked this a lot. Good Christmas movie. Both the leads were great and even DeNiro showed up to play. Yeah it was predictable but it was well done so you go with it. I agree with Mod the uneven tone and the performances is what elevated it. RK is right the script alone was somewhat unremarkable.

I've never seen a good kiss in which the camera spins around. I think that's a lazy move that's way below O'Russel's game that substitutes a genuine moment with genuine emotions for something the audience has seen so frequently before.

Oh god yes. This was my one big eye roll. The camerawork in general was pretty erratic and almost felt like a film student trying to imitate Scorsese.

[pete]

yeah, the camera had these moves that didn't make any sense and were way too menacing and this is coming from someone who loves push-ins. Also another thing that bugged me long after the fact was the dancing. It seemed so out of place and it was done in the same exact way Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine did. That was the movie's laziest move. Still, good acting and whatnot. I still liked themovie a lot.

[md]

The pushin (and push outs) were similar to the extremely long push out in beginning of The Fighter.  The excessiveness worked for me for the same reasons most of you guys disliked it.  Specifically the scene with the cop entering at the door.  I can't help but think that Dancing with the Stars somehow influenced this movie and made it more accessible, albeit predictable for an audience. 

[Frederico Fellini]

"YEAAAAAH... THAT'S CINEMA!"  - David O. Russell

[Just Withnail]

ahaha

CRAZY TIME!

That's fantastic.

I love the cameraman grinning from ear to ear as he's watching the scene.

[Pubrick]

I like the bit where Jennifer Lawrence.

[Gold Trumpet]

SPOILERS

This is a talented film. Definitely uneven, but when I look at other O'Russell ventures, I see the same thing. Case in point, he even admitted if he had to go back and redo a film like Three Kings, he would have probably added a darker ending. The happy ending in that film definitely felt like the filmmakers didn't know how to come up with anything better.

The best part of Silver Linings Playbook is the commitment to staying with Bradley Cooper's character at every embarrassing interval of his recovery. Since a majority of his "recovery" is living in some delusion his wife wants to be with him, the film knows how to let Cooper lead with the performance. O'Russell also spikes the showcase with constant whip-around movements by the camera so you feel like you're someone in the moment with Cooper and trying to keep up with his manic energy. It's a nice balance because the filmmaking accentuates the performances instead of handicap how much of it you can/can't see.

I also like how the film didn't try detail the diagnosis that Cooper's character was bi-polar. It had no interest in the clinical explanation of what he was going through. No secondary characters really went in depth with it. Sometimes it happens to moralize a character who may be losing grounds of appealing to the audience. All it focused was on them trying to deal with Cooper and keep up with whatever his new tantrum may or may not have been.

Of course, the questionable things in the film come later. It isn't just the last ditch romantic run for the one Cooper really loves. It all begins when the film makes a plot grandstand over the fact De Niro's character is obsessive compulsive with what he thinks is good luck for Philadelphia Eagles games. It's one thing to showcase a character like that and have it be a contrast to Cooper's to show there is a lot of emotional instability in the family, but it's another thing to stretch out a scenario where Cooper's dance finale will completely play into De Niro winning a huge bet and also getting the restaurant he always wanted. Also add on the dance is a peak moment for Cooper to challenge his feelings for Lawrence and his wife, too. It's all way too convenient for easy drama. For me it was way too much of a detour from a fine realistic approach to the story.

The end moments where Cooper runs off Lawrence and she has her Romeo and Juliet moment where she thinks all is lost is definitely a movie cliche. Not only is the sequence and music overplayed, but it's always struck me as faulty drama. If both truly love each other, it's not going to matter if the person running off gets home or not. The person chasing them with eventually catch up and pour their heart out and the other will accept because they are that much in love, too. However, what I did like about the idea of the romantic finale is the sudden change-of-heart for Cooper's character. No rationalization for why he suddenly loves Lawrence and can look beyond his wife. What it feels like is the time traveled together in the film finally caught up to his character and he found himself wishing he wasn't going to lose her. The film is about steadying Cooper's character down until he finds something relaxing in being with Lawrence's character and working on a dance routine. Presumably, a very simple love and attachment settles in.

Still, another talented output by O'Russell and both performances were excellent by the leads. Hard to really fault the very good.

[Pubrick]

just come out and say it, you fucking HATED the master.

you thought it was the worst film of the year.

worse than dark knight rises. go on.

[Gold Trumpet]

Haha, haven't seen it. Closest it came to my plot of earth was 2 hours away and it only stayed there for two weeks. Kept thinking it would get closer and never happened. My friends who saw it didn't like it and based on their taste and mine, I think it bolds well for me actually liking it.

[Robyn]

I just rewatched this and loved it as much as I loved it the first time I saw it. it's such a sweet and warm film with great performances all around, especially from jennifer lawrence... yeah, even bradley cooper was good in this. I think they worked really well together and had a good chemistry. sure, the ending is predictable but I liked the cheesiness of it.