Silver Linings Playbook

Just a short post today as Christmas is near and we are enjoying the holidays with my family in Southern California. It is so nice to be here! I plowed through my Christmas shopping all in one day yesterday, which must be some kind of record for me.

Although quite busy, I did manage to see “Silver Linings Playbook” this past week, which is about a guy named Pat (played by Bradley Cooper) who goes home to live with his parents after getting out of a mental institution as he attempts to get his life back together. He’s bipolar and coping with treatment but is driven to get his old teaching job back and reunite with his separated wife though both seem sort of far-gone and out of reach. Then he meets Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who has mental issues of her own but seems to see through to Pat. They embark on a rocky friendship as they come to grips with their own difficulties and the road ahead.

Though there’s seemingly a lot of yelling in “Silver Linings Playbook,” it’s quite a feel-good movie by the end. Tiffany gets Pat to enter a dance competition, and the father, a bookmaker, has the whole family into the Philadelphia Eagles. So there’s football, dance, family and mental issues along the way.

I enjoyed the movie enough and think Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence did a good job in it. I guess I didn’t LOVE the movie, but thought it was worth seeing. It’s a bit over-the-top or unreal in places, like the football or dance competition etc. I guess it’s not exactly a harrowing view of the mental aspects or impoverished situations that many mentally ill people or their families face but it doesn’t totally duck the hardships or illness either. It seemed a bit careful in that regard. I liked “Silver Linings” but wasn’t overly caught up in it.

So for big end-of-year movies: I’ve now seen “Lincoln,” “Life of Pi,” “Argo” and “Silver Linings Playbook.” But yet there’s still “Les Miz,” “The Impossible,” “The Hobbit,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and perhaps “On the Road” to see. “Les Miz” has got to be the most talked about film of the year so I’m most curious to see that, as well as the gritty “Zero Dark Thirty.” I find it a bit hard to choose my favorite so far between “Lincoln,” “Life of Pi” and “Argo.” What is your favorite film so far this year?

Happy Holidays.