Silver Linings Playbook - Film Review

[shadowkat]

Finally saw the oscar nominated film Silver Linings Playbook written and directed by David O'Russell, which had been rec'd by embers_log and ponygirl2000 [ETA - was actually lj user lizziebuffy...in my defense it has been a while]. And also by my parents..

I agree with their reviews. It's a charming movie, not at all what I expected. Can see why it was nominated. Robert DeNiro actually played against type, and Jennifer Lawrence blew me away once again.

One of the better romantic films that I've seen. They are few and far between in the 21st Century for some reason. It was upbeat, slice of life, story about two messed up folks who fall in love in the suburbs of Southeastern Philadelphia. With dancing and football. Found it weirdly nostalgic (his home in the film reminded me of Grandparents house in Landsdown)
and uplifting...

Quotes: "The trick is to take all the negativity, wrap it up and find the positive side of things, and if you work really hard...you can earn your silver lining."

And

"The world will beat you up ten times to Sunday, over and over, but here's the deal - there's Sunday, and you can find the things that make you happy and make it not so bad...the silver lining. Once again Sundays' are my favorite days. Didn't think that would happen again."

See? Hope. A Happy Movie. Happy books and movies are those that provide hope.

Which is another bit in the movie - the protagonist reads Heminway's Farewell to Arms and is pissed about the unhappy ending. He states: "Don't we deserve a happy ending after wading through all of that? Isn't that required in books?" And later - "while the books are harsh and end unhappily, it's important to read them because they prepare you for the harshness and pain of living...make it possible for you to cope."


Overall rating - A

Comments

[lizziebuffy2008.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you finally saw it!! I really liked that movie and fell a little bit more in love with JL because of it. I thought their dancing was terrible, but actually thought it made the movie more plausible...if they had been great; that would have seemed too Hollywood for me.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Was relieved the dancing wasn't terrific. Although I wouldn't say it was terrible until they did that last number. As I stated above, seen far worse on Dancing with the Stars.

Too often in these films, people with little to no dancing experience go from terrible to terrific in less than three-four weeks. Become a cliche. Thank god they didn't do that. Plus I found the whole bit where they were ecstatic about getting a "5.0" total score...hilarious. The professional dancers were obsessed with the competition, they were just happy to have managed to a 5 and won their bet...LOL!