Friday was my day off and Sweetie and I went to see “Silver Linings Playbook.” I don’t know what kind of movie to call it. It is not quite a romantic comedy although that seems what the posters and websites seem to be angling for. Maybe it is its own movie. Does everything have to be in a category? Can’t anything just be its ownself? I have a friend who likes to tell me, “Yogi, you are just like _____.” I don’t appreciate it. I am not much but I like to think that maybe I have a little uniqueness no matter how boring. What do you think? Are you your ownself or are you just like ole ______?”
Sorry, I’m digressing. Bradley Cooper (does he really go by Bradley??? Jeez I hope not, It is bad enough having a last name for a first name without humanizing it a little. I bet his family calls him Brad. Brad is a first name, Bradley is a last name. Sorry you generation Xers and Yers, the truth hurts I know but you’ll be thanking me later, believe me. You guys don’t know everything you know, yes that truth hurts especially.) Wow, I’m really off my meds today. Anyway Brad(ley) Cooper plays Pat who as the movie starts is sprung out of a mental hospital by his mother after eight months. He was in the hospital because he came upon his wife having sex in the shower with one of Pat’s coworkers and beats the the crap out of the guy.
Turns out that Pat had undiagnosed bipolar and other issues and he avoided prison by going to the mental hospital. I love how Brad(ley) plays Pat. His Pat is out there, he is edgy, nervous, unpredictable and just barely under control. In other words the opposite of me. But he wants to work hard, lose weight and become a better person. (Again, just the opposite of me.)
Anywhoo, he gets back home and we meet Pat’s dad, Pat, Senior played by Robert De Niro. Pat, Sr. is a mess. He has lost his pension because of the economic turn down and is bookmaking to make money. Pat Sr is also a fanatic Philedelphia Eagles fan and his best friend is a an avid Dallas Cowboys fan. And as a Dallas Cowboys fan I love the give and take between them.
Anyway, Pat meets the luscious Tiffany played by Jennifer Lawrence (who had the starring role in The Hunger Games). Pat wants to reunite with his wife Nikki but she has a restraining order against him but you can tell he is really lusting after Tiffany. Tiffany turns out to have lots of problems of her own. Her policeman husband was killed in a car accident and she turned into a sex addict and lost her job. So she is edgy and unpredictable in her own way.
I’m not going to replay the whole movie for you. Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of it. I’m just going to say that I love the dynamics between Pat and his dysfunctional family and between Pat and Tiffany. There are many hilarious scenes in the movie and I think it may end up being a classic. I think it shows Jennifer Lawrence as a serious actress.
I give this movie five stars out of five. Saturday night is date night, take your wife or your husband or if your wife or husband can’t or don’t want to go take your girlfriend or boyfriend. The language is a little rough. The one sex scene doesn’t show any more body parts than what you’ll see at the beach next summer.
Warning Spoiler Alert!!!!
Plus this movie is the only thing in the world that could make me be glad that the Philedelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys.
OK. You have me. Something that shows Jennifer Lawrence as a serious actress has me very curious. She was pretty good in Winter Bones, but she totally wrecked Hunger Games. I will give this a try. Sounds lie something that will stretch my mind and get me out of my movie ruts.
I know nothing about movies. But I think you are an extraordinary guy.
i wanted to see it because of all the awards it has won & for the folks that i like that are within the movie. lots of great actors.
i went to school with 2 “Bradley”s … kind of liked it because it is so different. oh well. to each his own, right??! ha. ha!!! ( :
personally this movie didnt live up to the hype .. it was too slow getting started and then it was all over the place with flashbacks (what works for Tarantino doesnt always work for other directors) and again in my opinion casting Brad, DeNIro, Jacki Weaver and Shea Whigham as family was weird .. neither son looks like either of the parents … i could go on but bottomline it was an ok movie period …
I’m with you in that I don’t want to be like anyone else. I think I might enjoy this movie.
Sounds like a good movie. I enjoy Robert De Niro in comedic roles.
I think Bradley Cooper might be Canadian, so the name would make sense. As someone who has never been told that they are like ___, I would love it. I could feel more mainstream, average, even. The closest it gets is when they know someone who has hair like mine. (And it’s usually just wavy blonde, not the stuff that a bee can fly into and get stuck.)