SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Review

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Review

By Darin Skaggs

     The romantic comedy genre, once a movie staple, is now a joke and rarely works anymore.  The only way these types of films get any praise or recognition is to try something new. In David O. Russell’s new film Silver Linings Playbook he tries just that.

     Russell’s new film opens with a man in a mental hospital when his mother comes in to take him out.  We find out that the man is in the hospital for anger issues after attacking the man who was having an affair with his wife.  The film progresses and he meets a girl who also has mental problems for the reasons that she has lost her husbands.  He signs up with her for a dance contest in exchange for giving his wife letters because of a restraining order.

     The film has some great performances by mostly everyone.  Robert De Niro gives one of his greatest performances in years.  The two leads of the film give some of the best.  Bradley Cooper, who I only have seen in The Hangover, does great at being a recovering man with anger issues.  Jennifer Lawrence is great as usual, her being one of the only good parts of The Hunger Games.  Everyone else does fine work, despite some of the dialog not being real good. 

     The story is good.  All the exploration of dealing with anger issues and people knowing all about the issues is handled well.  They explore the loss of someone you love, both with them just leaving and with them passing away.  These parts of the film are great and highlight of the film.  The problem with the story is when some of the comic moments come in to play.  There is a character played by Chris Tucker that keeps being “let out” of the mental hospital that Cooper was being held in.  These moments in the film are played for comedy to lighten the mood, but the majority of them fall flat.

     The film works most of the time.  Then there is a point where it all falls apart.  Throughout the film there are not many stakes.  Then comes a scene where everything comes together and the stakes are finally raised.  To raise the stakes there is a bet that is made.  The stakes seem very low and forced to add some tension for the conclusion of the film.  This is where the film falls apart.  There are some nice moments after this scene but the majority of them are just cliché filled and predictable.

     The film is nice and a fun time.  The jokes mainly don’t work well, even though the film is very well acted.  The film is a good time, but not a great time.  The film is not the best but still beats more than the average romantic comedy.