Review: Silver Linings Playbook

If you're yet to hear anything about this film, perhaps all you need to know is that all four main actors have been nominated for Academy Awards.

ALL FOUR.

Not enough hey?

Silver Linings Playbook (based on a book by Michael Quick) is, at times, a confronting look at the impact of mental illness on people who suffer from it, and those who surround them. Pat (Bradley Cooper) has come home to mum (the superb Jacki Weaver) and dad's (the ever-amazing Robert de Niro) after an eight-month stint in hospital and a bipolar disorder diagnosis. His determination to get his life back on track, and unwillingness to subscribe to any of the recommended 'solutions' to his problem does not make Pat easy to get along with. His determination to win back ex-wife Nicki and his dedication to a more positive way of life baffle his parents who are at a loss to help their son. Enter Tiffany, (the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence, of Hunger Games fame), an equally-difficult sparring partner for Pat, and the collision between two people trying to figure their lives out forces some hard truths to come out.

You'll need to see the movie to appreciate the superbly-acted, realistic human moments in the film. Pat's interaction with his father (who also appears to suffer from mental illness), his brother, and ex-wife producing a broad range of reactions to coping with the stigma of mental illness.

There are a number of ways we cope with those close to us being diagnosed with mental illness. There's the fearful reaction of those who do not understand the illness.
There's the awkward response of people who turn stiff because interaction with an ill person is less than ideal.
There's those who seek comfort from them, sharing their own problems because they are unable to seek help on their own.
There's the smothering reaction of worried parents, who in seeking to understand sometimes overwhelm their offspring with a barrage of questions but who mean to do well.
And then there's the interaction between two equals, who may differ in diagnosis but are alike in belonging to the 'club', the society of those marked with illness and who will probably always be tainted by the brush. That, for me, was the true power of this movie. How individuals seek to deal with their own problems, and how the rest of our family and friends try to cope with a changed version of their beloved, perhaps secretly wishing everything could just go back to normal.
Silver Linings Playbook is maybe supposed to tell us that life will never return to as it was before, but perhaps a different, better version of life will become possible and natural order can finally be restored.