“It’s finally happened. Robert DeNiro has made a good movie in this century. Was about freakin’g time.
And the Oscar race is in full swing. The buzz is pretty big for this flick, touting it as this year’s Little Miss Sunshine or Juno or The Descendants. The small scale indie with a big heart and off the wall characters so quirky and disfunctional, you can’t help but love ’em. I always love those underdog films, and Silver Linings was no exception.
Bradley Cooper stars as Pat, who’s kinda mentally unstable and trying to put his life back together. He forms a connection with Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany, whose crazy just might surpass his. Meanwhile, he’s also trying to settle into his home life with his parents played by Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver.
If you’ve been paying attention to all the names I’ve just dropped in this David O. Russell film, you can prolly imagine that its strength is in the performances. Oh my, yes it is. You can expect several of these names to be read early in the AM of nomination day.
Bradley Cooper wowed me. Up til now, we’ve mostly seen him as a suave pretty boy, but I dont think we’ve ever seen such depth to him. He rattles off a mile per minute when he’s stressing out, then explodes with anger when he can’t get it together. Beneath all of that, he has this incredible vulnerability as he stubbornly tries to reclaim his former life. Lawrence was equally fiery with a darkness she used to mask her weakness. She too would have intense explosions, though hers were less angry, more neurotic. But she also had passion and determination when she was focused enough on something. Weaver and DeNiro were also fantastic in their smaller roles.
As much as I enjoyed it, I’m still backing Argo this year (though I reserve the right to switch loyalties once I see Les Miserables). But as far as the quirky indie underdog, this movie fits that spot perfectly.
Silver Linings Playbook – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n