Happiness Therapy

The average romantic aspect of the film was excellent, but the dramatic side was poor. Jennifer Lawrence's performance was excellent and she deserved an Academy Award for her performance in the film. Bradley Cooper's performance was excellent. The body of the psychopathic character was excellent.

Based on a novel by Matthew Quick, David O Russell has both written and directed this variation on the romantic comedy in which both main characters are deeply damaged and variably medicated.

Patrick used to be a teacher before he beat up a fellow teacher (he deserved it) and was diagnosed as bi-polar and confined to a mental institution for eight months. Tiffany used to be married to a cop who died in circumstances for which she feels blame and she has not been behaving as quietly and demurely as is expected of the newly bereaved. Both lead roles are played by attractive and talented young actors: Bradley Cooper ("The Hangover") and Jennifer Lawrence ("The Hunger Games") and, by the time I caught up with the movie on DVD, Lawrence had been awarded a deserved Academy Award for Best Actress for this quirky performance.

One of the distinctive features of this wonderful film is that most of the characters are obsessive to one extent and in one form or another, most notably Pat's father who is charmingly portrayed by veteran Robert de Niro. At turns funny and poignant, this is at heart a plea for us to be tolerant of others because - let's face it - we're all a little crazy.

This is without a doubt THE movie that launched Jennifer into stardom. And deservedly so! For all those who love Jennifer Lawrence and for some unexplicable reason havent yet seen this gem there is only advice: stop reading this review and start watching!

But this movie is much much more than just a fun filled Jennifer flick, because David O Russel wrote and directed this crazy love classic, a movie about 2 people who are crazy and in love. The guy is played by Bradley Cooper and besides his other role in "American Hustle" I truly feel that this is his best performance ever.

All David O Russell pictures are about families in chaos. Utter chaos. BUT despite all the chaos and craziness in David O Russell's pictures there is always a true love at the heart to be found. That is what makes Russell's pictures so endearingly huggable, loveable and crazy positive. It is so touching and uplifting to see the craziest dysfunctional people fall in love and support eachother despite all their sorrows, fights and utter craziness.

Terrific supporting role by Robert de Niro! Splendid soundtrack. Great story. What more could one wish for? It is the craziest christmas feel good film I have ever seen. Gotta see this one!

I wanted to hate this movie sooo much. This is because a bunch of people told me to watch it, and not in a "hey this is a great flick" way but in a derogatory, judgmental "you NEED to watch this movie (lingering stare)" way. I get it. It's about people with some serious mental issues. Sure, I'll watch it just to say I did.

But instead of hating it, this movie won me over. Yes, it's about people with mental issues, but a subtle point of the film (which my judgmental friends didn't seem to get) is that EVERYONE is messed up, whether or not they admit to their disorders. It may take a while for this message to sink in, especially for those who tend to view the mental spectrum in black & white, but once you get it, this movie becomes a great experience in understanding the human psyche from all angles.

Ok, if you made it past my opening 2 paragraphs, here's the fun part. "Silver Linings Playbook" is a quirky, mostly lighthearted flick about 2 people who are each labeled as "crazy" and their odd relationship. The humor is similar to something you'd see in a Wes Anderson flick (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic) or maybe even Jonze/Kaufmann (Being John Malkovich, Synecdoche NY). By that, I mean it's subtle without any big punchlines or slapstick gags. The sheer randomness and bizarreness of the characters' words, actions and reactions provide the comedy. So don't expect a lot of knee slappers, but at the same time there are a lot of funny lines that are very memorable.

Also, even though I described this as a "romcom", it's really not a romance or a comedy. It's more about the unique strangeness in all of us, set against the backdrop of romantic relationships. That's all you really need to know about the plot because it defies explanation. But I'll still attempt to sum it up in 1 sentence: A guy who has just been discharged from the nut house (Bradley Cooper) who is violently obsessed with winning back his ex-wife, befriends the "town slut" (Jennifer Lawrence), and they begrudgingly team up in an attempt to get both their lives together.

It's a great flick, probably best watched alone. Terrible first-date movie because it's not exactly your typical charming Hugh Grant type ice breaker. You probably won't want to watch it with your parents or kids either because there is a heavy, awkward sub-plot about dysfunctional family relationships. Definintely not a chick flick nor a bro flick (except that there's a lot about football, in a funny way). I would say watch it with your dog and have a great time.

People are saying that it's "offensive" and "too happy" to be real, and that surprises me. As someone who lives with mental illness (severe major depression with severe psychotic features), and was in psych ward for quite a while, I didn't find it offensive. I found it to be remarkably accurate in portraying some of my own struggles, with mind-dulling medications, unwanted outbursts, deep paranoia, odd tics, etc. that I have had for over ten years. As for the "overly happy" stuff? Too many movies and TV shows focus on being "dark" and "edgy", so I found it refreshing to see someone going through struggles being positive about it. I won't pretend to have had the most difficult life, but it hasn't been easy. I saw this movie a few months after I was released from psych ward (2016), and I can honestly say it gave me a bit of hope to find my own silver lining. The world needs more positivity.