Here's the plot recap.
I enjoyed Silver Linings, and it reminded of David O. Russel's last film the Fighter. Like the former film, he takes a pretty conventional genre (sports movie in the fighter, romantic comedy here) and gives it enough edge and quirks so that it doesn't feel as utterly conventional as the story actually is. This is entertaining, but (again just like the Fighter) I'm sort of surprised at how much love this film is getting in critical circles. In no way does it reinvent the wheel, or try to realistically portray mental illness. Its an above average genre exercise, with a strong cast, that has just enough skewness in it to elevate it above typical fare. Even if the mental illness is portrayed more as quirky than debilitating.
Really the most interesting part of the film revolves around Bradley Cooper's relationship with his father (played by Robert DeNiro), and I'm not sure what interests me is intentional. First, Deniro only expresses any love for Cooper when his favorite teams win, which he associates with Cooper's good luck charm qualities. At first this is portrayed as the disturbing behavior that it is, but by the end the film just sort of accepts it and treats it as a merely quirky. Even their big reconciliation comes immediately after DeNiro wins a bet. Second, Deniro makes Cooper take part in a bet so irresponsible and psychotic that you can't believe everybody just shrugs it off (after some initial protests) and the whole thing is portrayed as a heart-warming bonding exercise. I suspect that some of this is Russel's effort to send up the idiot plot devices of most romantic comedies, and in that sense it works. If its meant to be played straight though, then the whole is a gross miscalculation.
It's too bad that this film is being hyped so much because I think the acclaim ultimately hurts it by skewing expectations so much. I guess its not the film's fault and I shouldn't complain. Except this is my blog that nobody reads and I'll complain if I want to. Suck it.
I enjoyed Silver Linings, and it reminded of David O. Russel's last film the Fighter. Like the former film, he takes a pretty conventional genre (sports movie in the fighter, romantic comedy here) and gives it enough edge and quirks so that it doesn't feel as utterly conventional as the story actually is. This is entertaining, but (again just like the Fighter) I'm sort of surprised at how much love this film is getting in critical circles. In no way does it reinvent the wheel, or try to realistically portray mental illness. Its an above average genre exercise, with a strong cast, that has just enough skewness in it to elevate it above typical fare. Even if the mental illness is portrayed more as quirky than debilitating.
Really the most interesting part of the film revolves around Bradley Cooper's relationship with his father (played by Robert DeNiro), and I'm not sure what interests me is intentional. First, Deniro only expresses any love for Cooper when his favorite teams win, which he associates with Cooper's good luck charm qualities. At first this is portrayed as the disturbing behavior that it is, but by the end the film just sort of accepts it and treats it as a merely quirky. Even their big reconciliation comes immediately after DeNiro wins a bet. Second, Deniro makes Cooper take part in a bet so irresponsible and psychotic that you can't believe everybody just shrugs it off (after some initial protests) and the whole thing is portrayed as a heart-warming bonding exercise. I suspect that some of this is Russel's effort to send up the idiot plot devices of most romantic comedies, and in that sense it works. If its meant to be played straight though, then the whole is a gross miscalculation.
It's too bad that this film is being hyped so much because I think the acclaim ultimately hurts it by skewing expectations so much. I guess its not the film's fault and I shouldn't complain. Except this is my blog that nobody reads and I'll complain if I want to. Suck it.
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