Silver Linings Playbook

It’s hard to find a film that is intimately relatable while not overly exaggerating or undermining human conditions. This is a movie where I saw myself in the characters, especially at a symptomatic time when I needed to see a story where people were in similar chaos and found coping mechanisms that reflected their personal battles. Pat manages through routine and structure, and Tiffany through movement and dance—both coping in ways that reflect who they are. It's a valuable portrayal that shows healing isn't one-size-fits-all—especially when deep breaths and meditation don't quite cut it. The heartfelt and extremely well-executed portrayals and discussions around bipolar episodes, psychosis, grief, relationship/family stability, depression, medications, diagnoses, and much, much more are refreshing and showed me that the harsh navigation toward proper treatment isn't so isolating. Its comforting vagueness mirrors real-life ambiguity and slow healing. This film reminds us that even though your struggles are unique and painful, you are never alone, and there is always someone—closer than you think—who can see right through you (in a good way) when others fail to do so. Pat feels alone in his effort to get better, especially when no one takes him seriously—and Tiffany gives him the connection he was missing. Things may take time, as they often do, but holding out for the light at the end of the tunnel (probably not a romantic dance competition) is worth it—you’ll get there. This film shows that recovery is messy but possible. Pat’s recovery is left open-ended—progress, not a cure. Symptoms weren’t cleared, but he’s not trapped anymore. He has stability, connection, and direction—and that’s the whole point. WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!

Great until the final act where it fell apart cos of some weird climax I didn't understand about football and some artificially crafted points scoring. The screenplay was mostly good except Bradley Cooper's mother had rubbish dialogue and didn't even need to be there, just parroting other characters. She also looks exactly like that Incredibles character. Up until the end though, it was great, with great acting for almost the entire runtime. Bradley Cooper got robbed because Jennifer Lawrence actually won best actress. If anything it should've been the other way round. It would have been an 8 but the ending verges on poor. And oh my god. They say the word "excelsior" so much.

An oddly uneven film full of lots of WTF moments. Billed as a romantic comedy that is neither romantic nor comedic, this film never seemed to figure out what it wanted to be. Starts off as "one flew over the cuckoos nest" and ends as "dirty dancing". The whole bet thing at the end is implausible, as is having a dancefloor built into your house, a cop always turning up within a second of you doing something wrong and trusting all your money on someone you hardly know on a competition you know nothing about. Great performances by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, which is why I suspect all the reviewers like it, however the rest of the cast is weak (particularly Robert De Niro who, yet again, phones in his part). Expected so much more from this but overall it's one of those films that you forget as soon as you finish watching it.

David O. Russell hasn't quite grasped a more careful idea of portraying mental illness within a dramedy. The transparent depiction inside a Hollywood, Oscar-baited film becomes clearer towards the end, and if he knew that this script would win awards then he possibly didn't try it convincingly enough. The ending was purely cringeworthy, it lost its likeability pretty quickly and the sentimental drama that is said to be cleverly executed and believable is actually riddled with cliches. The bipolar illness itself is treated as more of a side-issue it kills any chance of an even tone by switching it on and off when needed. The comedy fails to distract from these problems, making light of the real issues (with its subject and the plot itself) and acting as if this is what it truly means to have bipolar.

This movie is smegma. Totally calculated and cynical, nonetheless managing to also be super vapid. Basically, it's a Sleepless In Seattle-style romantic comedy with a vaguely original "mental health" wrapping. You can call out all the most conventional and tired plot devices before they happen; and the ones you can't (like the dance-off) are unpredictable only because they are just so damn stupid and belong in another movie. Bradley Cooper is cute, but basically a WB-caliber actor. Hunger Games girl has a weird inauthenticity about her and she's just not believable as this character. I dunno what Robert Deniro is doing in this movie, but he makes the best of a bad situation, at least. I would fear for us as a society if I truly believed this stinker would pass the test of time. Fortunately, I am old enough to know it won't.