El lado bueno de las cosas

The protagonists of screwball comedies acted crazy. The protagonists of Silver Linings Playbook are crazy. Of course, within the boundaries of American indie romances, i.e. they are characters with eccentric behaviour and minimal psychological depth, and they are defined only by their interactions with their immediate surroundings. He loses his nerve here and there, she has nymphomaniacal tendencies, and both of them have lost someone. Now they need to emotionally fill up the vacant space and find their lost balance (for example, in dancing). It’s not necessary to know more than that to understand the story and to get a good feeling in the end. Russell placed his bets on good actors and sharp verbal exchanges, so it’s not surprising that the film’s highlights include the scene in which several mentally unstable characters shout at each other in front of a shaky camera. However, this is just another display of “shaky cam” syndrome. The nervous camerawork is used in line with Pat’s gradually subsiding uneasiness. The scenes with the psychiatrist are calmer and the camera movements gain a certain harmony with the gradual coming together of the central couple, which, however, has long been motivated by selfishness, so a certain nervousness and uncertainty persist. In other scenes, the camera points out what the characters realise only later (the reading of the letter), thus creating tension and raising expectations, which at least make the path to the predictable ending more enjoyable. It’s pleasing that, unlike many contemporary comedies, the film isn’t made up only of scenes and one-liners and that it also has a carefully thought-out structure (a vaulted dramatic arc, if you like), without dead spots and with a climax in which all of the motifs are conscientiously put to good use. The fact that the protagonist doesn’t have his behaviour fully under control and that he has to learn how to dance because of his “treatment” does not in any way weaken the thoroughly androcentric narrative (we barely get to know Tiffany’s parents; Pat’s parents condition the denouement), and in other respects the screenplay is revisionist only in relation to screwball comedies. Social norms are undermined by the transfer of the treatment process from the institutional context to the outside world, or rather the denial of the dichotomy between “normality” and “madness”. Unlike with classic screwball comedies, the realistic context here (treatment facility, pills, aggression) make us aware that the characters behave differently than is customary in their world. However, neither one of them has to enter a more normal world. In other words, everyone is crazy; it’s just a matter of finding the right one. 75% (25.02.2013)

Based on the responses from abroad, Silver Linings Playbook looked like one of the most attractive of this year’s Oscar contenders, unfortunately though, I wasn’t really sold on it. The messy web of relationships of a bunch of weird, crazy and neurotic characters, lead by Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper (both of whom I consider very talented young actors), didn’t win my heart. If I look at it positively, it’s still some nice brisk fun, but nothing more than that. Emotionally, the film missed me by a wide margin, to the point that I’m not even sure when I was supposed to feel any emotions, because the relationship between the main characters happens as if by the way, especially on the part of Cooper. They meet, they argue, they dance and boom. Chris Tucker is insufferable. 7/10 (13.01.2013)

Who is crazy? And who is normal? I rather feel that the crazy person is in all of us, the question is, what, who and how activates it. In this movie Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper activated it before the story began and I see only the therapy. I have to say, it was really nice to watch. Especially Jennifer Lawrence and especially when she was twisting during the dancing. Nevertheless, I really have to admit that I haven’t seen such unique romantic movie in a really long time. Properly crazy, honestly funny and realistic in the way only life can be. (07.05.2014)

A film that can make even Chris Tucker likeable can't be bad in principle. And the Dirty Dancing Therapy, despite all its cheap melodramatic pretense, it’s not bad. (13.01.2013)

For some, Playbook will be a barking drama where characters only argue, shoot each other with diagnoses, and search for happiness through priorities that are not entirely understandable. For me, Playbook is a confession, an awakening, the power of life, and a shouted desire for happiness. When I say that right at the end of the movie, I had the feeling that no matter what happens, I have a chance to prove what is most important to me in life, it will sound like the most worn-out cliché. But it was Pat and Tiffany who got me into this sincere mood. From the first monologue to the captivating end. (08.02.2013)

I'm going to be harsh and lean towards a lower rating, because as a whole this film didn't quite make the best impression on me. In terms of the acting there’s nothing to fault, but in terms of content it's pretty empty. I was bored at times, then the rush of emotions made my head spin. The only thing I really liked were the dance scenes. 3.5 stars. (28.08.2013)

A great romantic comedy, the best for the past... a really long time. Very untraditional, argumentative and full of paradoxical situations. Bradley Cooper is excellent (well-deserved nomination) and Jennifer Lawrence (well-deserved nomination) is the perfect psycho fox with a sensitive soul. Notwithstanding the unarguable qualities of the main duo, De Niro (well-deserved nomination) rocks the most. An unpredictable, cute, but unintrusive movie that you can take a girl to and rather than the date turning bitter, you will more likely be treated to a sweet dessert. (24.01.2013)

Most people are too dumb to understand pure emotions that are not spoken about. This film has them, they are spoken about and it’s gripping. (25.08.2013)

An excellent actors’ film. The Oscar hype may be exaggerated in this case, and the story offers no memorable authorial ideas, but it's a heavy-handed feel-good film with beautifully drawn characters that, for me, represents one of the most honest depictions of an ordinary American family in recent years. Where authenticity commits suicide, it's fully supported by the palpable chemistry between Bradley and the divine Jennifer, which (the chemistry) had me glued to my seat, and who (Jennifer) stirred my remaining teenage hormones and left no doubt that she was more deserving of an Oscar than any actress not named Meryl Streep. It’s a pure caricature, as is usual with O. Russel, but it’s funny and, judging by the enthusiastic reception, obviously good. (29.03.2013)

I approached the movie "Love Therapy" with the expectation that the girl who played the lead role in "Hunger Games" would be in it. I didn't believe her and couldn't understand how she was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. But then I saw the film. At first, it got my attention for what it was about. Then Bradley Cooper got me, who really acted and his Oscar nomination is well-deserved. But Jennifer Lawrence completely won me over. Even though she doesn't really sit well with me as a person, even though I had prejudices against her, she was just so good in this film that I have to take my hat off to her. I don't know if she will win the Oscar in the unusual but interesting competition - personally, I expect Jessica Chastain to win - but her performance in the film "Love Therapy" is simply admirable. Let's forget about the Czech title, which is truly stupid, and focus on the film itself. We have Pat, who has just been released from a mental institution because he did something that classified him as crazy. He behaves like that. He is a peculiar person. Trivial things can anger him. He is not primarily a violent type, but he has mental problems. Psychologists refer to his condition as bipolar affective disorder. This person, who is potentially dangerous to society, has to start functioning again, but at first glance, we see that he is definitely not cured and it won't be long until he returns to the psych ward. But then he meets a girl. That's how it goes. The girl's name is Tiffany. I don't know why, but I generally don't like that name. It's a name for a prostitute. Or a stripper. Or an actress from "Baywatch." But that's not important. Tiffany isn't exactly okay either. Her husband almost killed himself, she has become somewhat addicted to sex, looked for it everywhere at work, until she got fired. Both Pat and Tiffany are lost souls. Society sees them as something worse. They don't think highly of each other either. That's what makes their journey towards getting closer to each other more interesting. Pat, who is obsessed with his wife, to whom he is prohibited from approaching, and Tiffany, who is focused on a dance competition. But it's not just them. Thanks to this film, you will realize that all Americans are crazy. No matter how big they are, whether someone locked them up in a mental institution or not. Some of them live quietly at home, even though a little therapy wouldn't hurt them either. And it's not just the great Robert De Niro. My girlfriend was disgusted by the characters, which I personally consider confirmation of how great their performances are. They are crazy, but their story is still beautiful. There's a lot of talking, a lot of yelling, but the film has depth, there are emotions, and even though the ending is quite American, there's still a feeling that those two actually deserve it. For me, both thumbs up. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/02/now-is-good-stand-up-guys-bourne-30.html (05.03.2013)

A wonderfully tasteful affair, at times almost "P.T. Andersonian" in terms of the power of identifying with the characters emotionally/psychologically. It may seem that the more insane the characters you create in the script, the more intense the final impression will be from a certain point of view, and the overall structure of Silver Linings Playbook encourages this in its own way. However, it struck me more as a kind of sweet, sensitive, and sometimes harsh story (harsh only in terms of the emotions transferred to the viewer) about people who to be sure are "different" in certain ways (we even have tons of charts, names of diseases, and various medications for them), but it is through this "otherness" that a "normal" non-bipolar person can observe that even your average lunatic can be much more perceptive, sensitive, and insightful in many other ways than those who, according to the charts, are not officially crazy. Here I can nicely pick up on what David O. Russell was (in my opinion) really trying to say with this film – namely, that when a normal person has some strong excess in behavior or thinking, it is almost always very difficult to get them to renounce and erase something that was/is important to them, even if it was the source of future psychic disturbance. I really liked how David O. Russell demonstrated through the supporting characters that the more mentally and morally deranged may very well be the officially "normal" people whose completely tactless and boorish behavior bring down and humiliate the officially "abnormal" individuals. Silver Linings Playbook is not a film that glorifies crazy people or a film that presents emotionally vulnerable and unbalanced people as beings who are superior in their humanity to the officially "normal" ones. Silver Linings Playbook is the story of the gradual coming together of two terribly shattered human souls whose loved ones cannot help them (and if they try, they only do so very convulsively and stiffly) and instead try foolishly, but certainly with good intentions, to keep them apart. This is a superbly acted, directed and, above all, sensitively made film that is, in the purest sense of the word, a madcap romance that ultimately warms the heart beautifully in the space of two hours. And Jennifer Lawrence may not be a textbook beauty like Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, or Megan Fox, but she exudes such an aura that I would quickly fall in love with her (and with me she wouldn't even have to crawl on all fours). (02.03.2013)