Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
For a while, it seemed like Silver Linings Playbook was going to be the next The Notebook, the quirky romance that stole everyone’s heart and started instant conversations and friendships. I went to see it in the theaters before the Academy Awards, and I hated it so much I almost walked out. I should have insisted, though; the entire movie was filmed with a shaky, handheld camera and my mom was so dizzy, she staggered out of the theater and nearly passed out. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of David O. Russell’s directing style.
I also don’t think highly of the movie. Bradley Cooper plays a mentally disturbed man trying to function in society. He’s spent time in a sanitarium and has now been released to the custody of his parents, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver. His horrific social skills and damaged brain may endear him to some viewers, but I couldn’t stand him. If I met someone like him in real life, I would smell the red flags immediately and never get together with him again. Why does Jennifer Lawrence attempt a friendship and romance with him? Because she also has mental problems; but when she finally explains her sorrow, it makes you want to laugh rather than pity and understand her.
This movie is only for the fans of extremely quirky and dysfunctional. Do you enjoy ad lib fights with family members, where people shout at the top of their lungs for no reason? Do you find a space cadet mother figure whose catchphrase is, “I made homemades,” and is emotionally useless, endearing? Will you root for a couple with such appalling social skills it would be a miracle if they made it through a five-minute conversation with anyone without causing offense? Do you think it’s good acting to go “against type” just for the sake of going “against type”? Then you’ll love this movie. The only part of the movie I was able to appreciate was Julia Stiles’s performance. She plays Jennifer’s sister, and she has a realistic, subtle delivery to her lines. It must have taken guts to act alongside a new teen star with a similar look, and she had to do it.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. The entire movie is filmed with a handheld camera, and that will make you very sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Julia Stiles movies here!
I also don’t think highly of the movie. Bradley Cooper plays a mentally disturbed man trying to function in society. He’s spent time in a sanitarium and has now been released to the custody of his parents, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver. His horrific social skills and damaged brain may endear him to some viewers, but I couldn’t stand him. If I met someone like him in real life, I would smell the red flags immediately and never get together with him again. Why does Jennifer Lawrence attempt a friendship and romance with him? Because she also has mental problems; but when she finally explains her sorrow, it makes you want to laugh rather than pity and understand her.
This movie is only for the fans of extremely quirky and dysfunctional. Do you enjoy ad lib fights with family members, where people shout at the top of their lungs for no reason? Do you find a space cadet mother figure whose catchphrase is, “I made homemades,” and is emotionally useless, endearing? Will you root for a couple with such appalling social skills it would be a miracle if they made it through a five-minute conversation with anyone without causing offense? Do you think it’s good acting to go “against type” just for the sake of going “against type”? Then you’ll love this movie. The only part of the movie I was able to appreciate was Julia Stiles’s performance. She plays Jennifer’s sister, and she has a realistic, subtle delivery to her lines. It must have taken guts to act alongside a new teen star with a similar look, and she had to do it.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. The entire movie is filmed with a handheld camera, and that will make you very sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Julia Stiles movies here!