Trama

In 2008, Patrizio "Pat" Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health facility into the care of his parents Patrizio Sr. and Dolores, after eight months of treatment for bipolar disorder, at his childhood home in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania.

During his time there, he forms a close friendship with a fellow patient, Danny (Chris Tucker), who is having legal disputes with the hospital which constantly prevents him from leaving. Pat soon learns that his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), has moved away and his father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), is out of work and resorting to bookmaking to earn money to start a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki, who obtained a restraining order against him after the violent episode that sent him away.

While talking to his court-mandated therapist Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher), Pat explains again why he was hospitalized. Coming home early from his high school teaching job, noticing clothes thrown on the floor and his wedding song Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" playing. He had found Nikki in the shower, with another man. Enraged, he nearly beat the man to death. Despite this, Pat doesn't believe he needs medication to manage his condition. Cliff Patel, tries to convince him to keep taking his medication because a repeat of his violent outbursts might send him back to the clinic. Pat tells him that he has a new outlook on life: He attempts to see the good, or silver linings, in all that he experiences. Meanwhile, Pat experiences a series of anxiety attacks.

At dinner with his friend Ronnie, he meets Ronnie's (John Ortiz) sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recent widow with an unnamed disorder, who also just lost her job. Pat and Tiffany develop an odd friendship through their shared neuroses. They connect, talking about different psychiatric medications they have taken to manage their mental illnesses. She tries to offer him casual sex, but Pat is focused on getting Nikki back. Tiffany is a "easy" woman who slept with everyone at her office after her husband's death, and when she accused her boss of harassment she got fired.

Pat sees an opportunity to communicate with Nikki through her. Tiffany offers to deliver a letter to Nikki, if in return he will be her partner in an upcoming dance competition. Convinced that helping Tiffany will show Nikki he has changed and has developed sensitivity to others, Pat agrees. Pat and Tiffany start practicing over the following weeks.

He reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks, with help from Danny, who is eventually released. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to show Nikki he has changed and become a better man. Tiffany gives Pat a typed reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for a reconciliation between them.

Things go well for Pat until his father asks him to attend a Philadelphia Eagles game, he has bet virtually all of his money on, as a "good-luck charm". Having bet most of his money on a Philadelphia Eagles game, Patrizio asks Pat to attend for good luck, irrationally believing Pat's attention to the game affects its outcome. Pat points out this is OCD but appeases his father. Pat asks Tiffany for time off from practice to attend the game. Before entering the stadium, Pat and his brother Jake get into a fight with racist fans and are arrested.

Pat skips practice with Tiffany to attend the game but is dragged into a fight with racist thugs attacking his psychiatrist and brother and is hauled away by police. The Eagles lose the game and Pat Sr. is furious. Tiffany arrives, berates Pat. When Patrizio claims that the Eagles lost because of Tiffany's newfound involvement in Pat's life, she points out that the way she "reads the signs", the Eagles do better when she and Pat are together, as they won every game they played on occasions when Pat and Tiffany spent time together.

Pat Sr., now convinced that Pat being with Tiffany is actually good luck, makes a parlay with his gambling friend that if the Eagles win their game against Dallas, and if Pat and Tiffany score at least a 5 out of 10 in their dance competition, he will win back all the money he lost on the first bet. Pat is reluctant to participate in the dance contest under those conditions. However, Tiffany and Pat's father decide to persuade Pat by lying to him to say Nikki will be there.

In the meantime, Pat, who has isolated himself from everyone, begins to read the letter from Nikki again and notices that the phrase Tiffany had used earlier "reading the signs" appears in the letter.

Tiffany, Pat, and their friends and family arrive at the competition on the night of the football game. Tiffany despairs when she sees Nikki in the audience, invited by Ronnie and his wife Veronica. Pat finds Tiffany, who has been drinking with a man who was trying to pick her up, and manages to coax her onto the dance floor, where they perform their routine. As they dance, the Eagles win their game and at the conclusion of their set, they score exactly 5 points: Pat and Tiffany are elated.

Amid cheers from his family and confused looks from the crowd, Pat approaches Nikki and speaks quietly into her ear. Tiffany storms off. Pat leaves Nikki behind after only a short conversation, intent on finding Tiffany. Pat Sr. informs him that Tiffany left and tells him that she loves him right now and that it will be a sin if he doesn't reach out to this moment that life has given him. Pat tells his father that he loves him, then chases after Tiffany and tells her he knows she forged Nikki's letter. He confesses he has loved her from the moment he met her but has taken a long time to realize it and they kiss. They become a couple, and Pat Sr. opens a restaurant with the money he has won.