Silver Linings Playbook

I watched Silver Linings Playbook last night.  I had wanted to watch it, mainly because of the hype leading up to the movie, as well as the Oscar buzz it had.  After Jennifer Lawrence won for Best Actress, i really wanted to see the film.  After viewing it, I don't understand the hype.  Sometimes I feel like the Oscar crowd gets all hyped up on performances for the wrong reasons.  Bradley Cooper was fine here, but nothing in this performance made me feel it was Oscar-Nomination worthy.  His character is bi-polar and yells a lot in his manic states.  I feel like I've seen Cooper do this before.  As for Jennifer Lawrence, I would say the same thing.  For me, her performance wasn't anything special or Oscar-worthy.  Don't get me wrong, she is not terrible, it's just that  no scene really stands out that sets her apart.

One of the things that also struck me as strange was that the title, Silver Linings Playbook isn't really explained. Only once does Cooper's character say "silver lining" and as for "playbook" I guess that has to do with the football subplot surrounding Robert DeNiro's character.  Its not really clear.  Now, I'm not saying that film titles should be always on the nose, but most of the time I can understand after seeing a film why it is titled as such. I enjoyed watching the movie, but if you're only curious like I was because of the Oscar-buzz only, just be forewarned that the film will by no means blow you away with its plot or acting.  I think the Oscar voters just wanted to see a young hottie onstage rather than her older competitors.

3 out of 5 stars

Trailer