The Silver Lining with a Heart of Gold

Some films dazzle you with its spectacle. Some make you take notice with its sheer forcefulness. Most of them come and go without a trace. But once in a rare rare while a film comes and touches you as would a gentle breeze and leaves an effect much more lasting than the dazzle and more profound than the forceful impact. Silver Linings Playbook is one of those rare rare films.

At the onset, Silver Linings Playbook (to be referred to henceforth as SLP) is a simple film. It doesn’t have the thrills of an Argo or the intensity of a Lincoln. It definitely lacks the beautiful canvas and magical world of a Life of Pi or the topicality of a Zero Dark Thirty or even the raw emotions of an Amour. If one was to talk of the skeletal story line, it would even read like your regulation Rom-Com (Romantic Comedy) [Boy meets Girl – Boy likes someone else – Girl seems to like Boy but doesn't say it out aloud – Boy and Girl become friends – climax – Boy is seemingly reunited with second girl – so Girl walks out sad – Boy runs behind – proclaims love – live happily ever after], though the treatment and subplots also add its share of drama (Romantic Drama Comedy then – Rom Dram Com?). How many times would we have seen a similar storyline? But something sets apart SLP as special, as a must watch and difficult to forget experience.

Of course this boy meets girl story has a different flavour, the hero (Pat Jr.), though devilishly handsome, is Bipolar with frequent manic episodes and his feisty heroine (Tiffany) is Depressed and seeking to escape the depression through mindless physical relationships with no emotional basis. And they are brutally honest, even if their honesty is the make belief honesty of their neurotic worlds. They meet in the movie for the first time at a dinner (though it is implied they have met before) where you can feel the electricity between them though they barely have a normal conversation that night. In fact the only ”normal” conversation they have that night revolves around their prescribed medications to treat their psychological disorders and the resulting side effects, much to the discomfort of their hosts. The beauty of this exchange lies in the deeper context, that they understand each other and cohabit a world others cannot fathom. And that first interaction sets the tone for the rest of the film – they will fight, they will shout, they will have uncomfortable moments, yet they will understand each other like no one else can and they will need each other to survive.

And what brings this unusual and interesting, funny yet poignant, emotional yet romantic tale alive are the performances. Bradley Cooper is effortless as he plays the Bipolar Pat Jr., swinging between the man focused on getting his life back in order yet who cannot control his manic episodes. Particularly interesting is that after a bad outburst where he hurts his beloved mother and waking up the neighbourhood you can’t feel mad at him. Instead he touches your heart as he worries about his wife reading about the episode if it is written up in his report. But the star of the film undoubtedly, and now of course validated with a very very well deserved Oscar, is Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany. She plays the role of the neurotic Tiffany with such abandon yet vulnerability. She is dark and brooding and almost goth one minute and soft and vulnerable the other. She alternates between ecstasy and pensiveness. And through it all she brings an energy to the proceedings such that you cannot look away when she is on screen. And together the couple makes magic. Not once do you feel that there is a 15 year age difference between them in real life. There is tension and there is attraction, there is poignancy and there is darkness, and yet there is understanding and there is love. Somewhere along the way, crazy or not, they convince you that they are made for each other. You know they will never be perfect. You know there will be crests and troughs. Yet you also know if not for each other they will be incomplete. And that is the success of the film.

While the leads keep you riveted to the screen, the supporting cast is stellar too. Robert De Niro’s OCD father (Pat Sr.) is rough and strong and hard but yet you can see the softness and the concern in small moments of desperation as he pleads with his son to stay and watch the game and humour his superstitions or to not let the girl go when she runs out on Pat Jr. Chris Tucker is funny and whacky and delivers one of the best lines of the movie as he asks Pat Jr. to “black it up” as he grooves with Tiffany. Anupam Kher’s therapist also shows multiple shades as he converts into a football fan over the weekend. Of course, the one sane thread in the film is Jacki Weaver as the matriarch of the Solitano household. She might be small but yet it is heart warming to see that she is the glue bonding the family together. Be it Pat Jr.’s remorse at hurting her or Pat Sr.’s anger to see her hurt, you know this family revolves around her.

The film is a memorable one. With a story that sounds so simple, it is layered with emotions till it resembles a particularly large onion. And as each layer is peeled away, it exposes yet another new experience. The film is quirky and eccentric and these idiosyncrasies of the characters take you on an unforgettable journey. The movie will not leave you spell bound with its grandeur or hammer its impact on you. Yet you will walk out with a smile and not be able to forget this small yet beautiful film. It will implore you to go and watch again to experience more layers (I am planning to go for the third time today). It is quite like the gentle breeze which gently eases in without you realizing and yet touches chords which you can then never ignore. Like Tiffany tells Pat Jr. in the film, “Do you feel that? That's emotion.”