“Silver Linings Playbook” isn’t just a football movie. Directed by David O. Russell (“American Hustle,” “The Fighter”), the playbook’s based on Matthew Quick’s debut novel and it’s how Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is going to win his game.
His motto, “excelsior” (which also happens to be the state motto of New York), means to find a higher purpose or goal.
“I’m gonna take all this negativity and use it as fuel to find my silver lining,” says Pat.
And he has a lot of anger and negativity. Pat’s found his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), making out with a colleague in his shower. Since then, Pat’s been diagnosed as bipolar and housed in a Baltimore mental institution.
The film starts when his mother (Jacki Weaver) breaks him out of the Karel Psychiatric Facility. We follow Pat as he remakes himself — running past his wife’s old apartment, reading his wife’s high school syllabus, and writing love letters to his wife. (This seems like an appropriate time to remind you that his wife, Nikki, has a restraining order against him.)
This starts to change when he meets Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a depressed widow. Tiffany lost her husband in a car accident. Pat’s psychiatrist, Dr. Cliff Patel (Anupam Kher), advises Pat to help himself by helping Tiffany. This is how Pat finds himself at dance practice, preparing for an end-of-the-year pairs open freestyle dance competition at the Benjamin Franklin hotel.
Russell’s 122-minute movie is tightly woven, full of feelings and emotions. This is thanks to the sharp dialogue and wonderful acting by the ensemble cast. Cooper and Lawrence are fantastic in their respective roles. Lawrence took home the 2013 Academy Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her role in this movie. Cooper and Lawrence’s chemistry is on point.
Of course, that’s only one of “Silver Linings Playbook’s” many silver linings. It’s poetic and literary. Pat and Tiffany have entire monologues dedicated to Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” and William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.”
Despite the literary references, “Silver Linings Playbook” doesn’t exist in an elusive elevated realm. It’s human and tangible while getting at the meaning of humanity.
Which — according to Pat’s dad (played by the wonderful Robert De Niro) — is football. Pat Solitano Sr. is a hardcore Philadelphia Eagles fan, betting his entire life’s savings on the football team.
Of course, football Sunday is more than just football. More than the euphoria from when your favorite team wins a game. It’s food, friends and family. And that’s worth everything in the world.
Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” is full of feelings and crescendos. It’s dirty and messy and sloppy, full of anger and heartbreak. But despite all the pain, there is a silver lining. And it’s out there — for anyone who can find it.
“Silver Linings Playbook” was written and directed by David O. Russell based on Matthew Quick’s novel.
