The movie Silver Linings Playbook, while not a terribly thought provoking piece, works well within the theme of a romantic comedy. David Russel's film manages stand as an effective representation of it's genre despite the lack of strong plot, leaving the acting to stand on it's own and the themes to shine through. This would be a negative with another genre of movie but the film needs to be judged for what it is. A character driven romantic comedy can stand on acting alone and be successful. Stellar performances from Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro contribute to make the film a success without the crutch of an overshadowing plot.
The movie opens with Pat (Bradley Cooper) in treatment in a mental institution for bipolar…show more content… They can go into a popular movie expecting a masterpiece of cinema and get something slightly better than the norm. This is often the case with popular works; they are enjoyed and promoted by fans but ignored by the unamused and indifferent. Someone who truly enjoyed a movie would be more likely to speak on how much they enjoyed it while the indifferent couldn't care less. Which is why preconceived notions can be so damaging to the film experience. It is often ruined before the start. Such is the case with Silver Linings Playbook. Fans of romantic comedies love this movie as a romantic comedy, but it leaves little for those who aren't fans of the genre. A simple plot shoulders a lot of the movie's weight on the performances of Cooper, Lawrence, and De Niro (Morgenstern p8). But this simple plot is freeing in some sense. Very little is left to detract from the audience's exposure to the main characters and allows room for analysis of the underlying themes. All of the main characters have their own sets of issues that often clash with one another; Pat is bipolar, Pat Sr. is a compulsive gambler and has OCD, Pat's mother has anxiety, and Tiffany is depressed. But in the face of all these problems the tone of the movie remains positive, mirroring Pat's own uncompromising positivity(Morgenstern 4). The reason Silver Linings Playbook works in the genre is because romantic…show more content… But there will always be dissenters and contrarians. One such person is Mark Keizer of pro.boxoffice.com who rated this movie a 2.5 of 5. Mark points out that the premise of a dance competition was ill fitting at best and ridiculous at worst (Keizer p2), but it works with the format. Romantic comedies as a genre aren't known for their complex and compelling plot, and Keizer is expecting too much. The film has several instances of Pat's mental illness surfacing, giving Keizer something else to complain about. He claims that his outbursts are “just not very believable”(Keizer p3), although many viewers who are more experienced with mental disorders laud Cooper's depiction of a manic episode (Reddit 1). Further, it's a very weak point to argue, as if expanding the audience's exposure to a central characteristic of the main character is a bad thing. Keizer admits that these scenes are necessary for the audience to feel for Pat, but he feels it necessary to claim that actors love to play these dramatic roles, implying that this is somehow a negative. He's trying to discredit the movie by discrediting the lead; implying Cooper's role was just a self serving exercise. Keizer does yield to Lawrence's performance while praising her for her effective screen presence. He continues the praise with De Niro's performance as Pat's father. A solid performance; he is able to convey with conviction and the