Silver Linings Playbook Analysis

Silver Linings Playbook

Direction-Screenplay: David O. Russell

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

Available on Netflix

Academy Award, Golden Globe for Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress. She is the 2nd youngest actress behind Marlee Matlin to receive the Oscar for Best Actress.

This film is a conventional love story, it proves that even a simple, done-to-death plot can be done in a unique way with interesting characters and settings. The core plot of this movie is, Pat, a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric clinic with a restraining order from his ex-wife, Nikky after he sees her with another man and beats him. Pat now, makes an effort to reconcile their marriage, he does all the necessary changes in his life that Nikky wants. S. S. Rajamouli once, explained what applied heroism is. He says, a character need not be glorified or elevated with his/her actions and deeds. The behavior of other characters with them, the way great people around them respect them is what elevates them in a better way. In Baahubali, we don't see Baahubali doing a lot of things, we see strong characters like Kattappa, Sivagami and Devasena ready to die for Baahubali which elevates his character way better than what direct elevation could have done. Similarly, in this film we don't see Nikky a lot and here they aren't trying to elevate Nikky as my example suggested but what Nikky means to him is very well conveyed by the efforts that he puts to impress her and reconcile with her.

This story is the classic structure of a character who goes on pursuit of something and at the end when he gets it or gets close to getting it, he realizes that what he needs is not what he is in pursuit for but something he had all along. I was expecting this is where things would end up, but that's not a complaint. Robert de Niro was brilliant as he is, always. The best part about his performance is the stuttering and repeating certain phrases like we talk in real life, he does that in this film as well. Jennifer Lawrence does a great job portraying Tiffany, a complex yet likeable character. The editing of this film by Jay Cassidy, is unconventional. His other films include Into the Wild, American Hustle and A Star is Born. His editing is not as recognizable even if you try to think of how it was edited other than the fact that he cuts very confidently. Most of the times he doesn't cut with a wide or opens with a wide, as conventional editing is. He cuts with a close and opens with a close. But when you think of your experience of his other films, there is a sense of intimacy that you feel with the world of his films. He uses a lot of close shots and that's the reason maybe. The handheld camera keeps the world more grounded. There is a weird kind of dolly-in and out that is used repetitively in the film, it is not a steady dolly-in like they do in Amelie, but it feels a little handheld and yet it is not too shakay and blurry that it is distracting. It has that unpredictable factor open since it's about characters who've some issues and we don't know how they'd react to things.