Silver Linings Playbook: The Anti-RomCom

Every once in a while, a film comes along that makes its audience think and turns the genre on its head.

Alas, that doesn't happen in the romantic comedy [hereby known as 'romcom'] department. After all, it's a paint by numbers formula, with little to no room for interpretation.  While it is, admittedly, a formula that has garnered millions at the box office and produced many a breakout star, it is also a formula that can feel predictable at best.  And Silver Linings Playbook, David O Russel's 2012 venture, would appear to fit that mold to a tee:  A down-on-his-luck guy, with the help of his friend's sister, tries to win back his ex-wife's love, inevitably falling for said sister.

But wait, the down-on-his-luck guy has been recently diagnosed as bipolar and just got out of a mental hospital. [that's not very romcommy.]

Oh, and his friend's sister is a depressed, borderline goth widow with mental issues of her own. [not your stereotypical rom-com heroine.]

I should also mention this guy's dad.  Aside from being OCD to the max, he got thrown out of Lincoln Financial Field for beating too many people up and now struggles with betting all his cash on Eagles games. [most rom-coms don't even feature the hero's parents.]

Let's also talk about the fact that Pat [Bradley Cooper] and Tiffany [Jennifer Lawrence] call the police on each other and only begin a friendship due to what they can get out of it. [did these people even read the romcom manual?]

Did I mention that it was nominated for 8 Oscars?

My Rating: 9/10.


The Good:  Though Silver Linings Playbook is truly a romcom at heart, several of its elements rise above genre cliches and take the movie to a deeper level of filmmaking.

1)  The All-Star Cast.  One of the most important elements to an enjoyable romcom is a talented cast who creates memorable characters, and SLP does anything but disappoint in this department.  In fact, it became the first film to garner Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories.  Top honors go to Jennifer Lawrence, who strays far from her arrow-wielding alter ego as Tiffany.  Lawrence's Tiffany deftly switches from a obsessive slut to a sensitive dancer with vulnerabilities, earning her the Oscar for Best Actress.  She's not the only star here, though.  Though Bradley Cooper ultimately lost to Daniel Day-Lewis' Abraham Lincoln, his portrayal of Pat is earnest and slightly off-kilter. In any other year, it would have been an Oscar-garnering performance [but really, how do you beat Abe Lincoln?].  Aside from the charming leads [who, by the way, have magical chemistry with each other], Robert Di Nero runs off with the movie as Pat Sr. Di Nero hasn't had a hit since Meet the Parents in 2000, and his depiction of the Eagles aficionado is neurotic and frequently hilarious.  Jackie Weaver [the fourth in the Oscar-nominated quartet] also offers a nuanced look at the stressed-out wife and mother who is left to deal with the Pats' messes.  Naturally, every romcom hero needs a crazy best friend, and Chris Tucker fits the bill perfectly as Pat's best friend, Danny, who seems to be constantly escaping from the mental facility.  Anupam Kher as Dr. Cliff Patel, John Ortiz as Tiffany's brother-in-law, Ronnie, and Shea Whigham as Pat's brother, Jake, round out a memorable supporting cast, and it was great fun to see Julia Stiles [10 Things I Hate About You] in a cameo appearance as Tiffany's sister.

2)  The Script.  Let's face it: everyone enjoys a good love story.  And Silver Linings Playbook is a textbook, boy-meets-girl romance.  Yet the script, adapted from a book of the same name, is written with such depth that the romance is really second-fiddle to the deeper theme of relationships.  We watch as Pat struggles to define his relationships with his parents, brother, best friend, therapist---and, of course, Tiffany.  Rather than descending into corny dialogue, this trope is handled with finesse, as David O. Russell's script gently shows the positive and negative aspects of living in community without ever coming across as preachy.

3)  The Comedy.  Silver Linings Playbook deals with heavy issues, and Russell does not shy away from the gravity of them.  Yet the more positive side of life [the silver lining, if you will] is also explored.  At the end of the day, all of us have felt like we're living in a sitcom, something showcased here.  The problems of Pat, Tiffany, and everyone else are never taken lightly, but they are also shown so absurdly that the viewer can't help but chuckle.  From Pat and Tiffany's awkward attempts at romance, to Pat Sr.'s obsessive game-day traditions, to Dolores' oblivious peacemaking, laughter is never far away.  Most delightful is the grand finale, in which all the storylines collide in a hilarious-yet-charming dance competition.  Also of note is the comedy NOT on display: SLP, while rated R for a good amount of language and some sexual dialogue, never stoops to nudity or scatological humor in order to garner laughs.  Instead, the hilarity comes from the character's personalities and situations they find themselves in, giving a classy air to the entire film.

The Bad:  I will admit, it was hard to find much to use in this section. In the end, I did think of two things, but neither takes away from the overall experience.

1)  The Profanity.  While nudity and gross-out humor are refreshingly absent, profanity is not.  I understand that people cuss in real life, and that's their deal.  But I have to wonder if so many f-words were necessary.

2)  The Stereotyping.  The one tired romcom cliche that Silver Linings Playbook falls into comes in the characterization of Anupam Kher as Cliff Patel, Pat's Indian therapist.  Patel comes off as a caricature of Indian stereotyping frequently seen in comedies, rather than the three-dimensional characters granted to the other actors.


The Message:  Silver Linings Playbook may be a comedy, but the merriment is not an end to itself; it is a means to an end--the end being the ultimate messages.  There are several, and each deserves its own subpoint.

1)  We all have something.  And by 'something', I mean that thing that makes us weird or quirky.  At first glance, it's bipolar Pat who is the weird one.  However, as the movie unfolds, we begin to realize that all the characters are dealing with something.  For Tiffany, it's her promiscuity following her husband's death.  For Pat Sr., it's his OCD and betting addiction.  For Danny, it's his mental issues.  For Dolores, it's her passive clueless-ness.  Even Tiffany's sister and her husband have marital issues.  It's a powerful picture that translates to the real world: not everyone has a diagnosed mental problem.  But underneath the shiny facade of Sunday football games and dance classes, everyone is hurting in some way, and everyone has 'something'.

2)  It's those somethings that make us who we are.  Tiffany mentions to Pat, "There's always going to be a part of me that's sloppy and dirty, but I like that. With all the other parts of myself."  Everyone has made mistakes or had a traumatic experience, and that's okay, because they become part of ourselves and part of our story.  Most importantly, those mistakes and tramuatic experiences can lead us to our destiny [or, as a Christian, God's call for my life].

3)  Life doesn't always work out perfectly.  Right after Pat is released from the mental institution, he begins reading Ernest Hemingway's work.  In the middle of the night, he storms into his parents' room, upset that Hemingway had no happy endings.  Pat's frustration with Hemingway's stories serves as a metaphor for the fact that expectations rarely ever mirror the ending; at the beginning of the film, we expect Pat to win Nikki back.  But he doesn't.  When, in a subplot, Tiffany and Pat enter a dance competition, the gods of romcoms dictate that they should win.  But they don't.  Pat Sr. should get over his obsession with the Eagles and find a loophole to be let back into the games.  But he doesn't.

4)  There's always a silver lining.  It's here that we discover the source of the movie's title.  No, nobody's perfect, and no, life doesn't work like we want it to, but, as Pat states, "everything happens for a reason".  No matter how horrible things are, there's something good in every scenario.  Indeed, just like clouds, life features silver linings.  Obviously, Pat and Tiffany are each other's silver lining.  Yet, the true silver lining in the movie is Pat's restored relationships--not just with Tiffany, but with Pat Sr., Dolores, his brother, Danny, and even Dr. Patel.  As for Tiffany, she also finds a makeshift family in these characters.  Danny is finally released from the mental institution and Pat Sr. even lets go of his OCD.  The allusion is clear: life rarely, if ever, works out like we expect it to, but disappointment leads to an end even greater than the one we expected.


The Bottom Line:  Every once in a while, a film comes along that makes its audience think and turns the genre on its head.

Silver Linings Playbook is that movie.  While presenting a classic romance, it also presents themes so deep and a quality so brilliant that, to quote Roger Ebert, "it could almost be a terrific old classic".  It may lack unpredictability, but that's no fault.  The ending is not the point; the journey to that ending is the point.

Is the film as amazing as the critics say?  Yes, without a shadow of a doubt.  IndieWire critic Eric praises Silver Linings Playbook adequately, exclaiming that  "both as solo screenwriter and director, Russell assembles a small, bubbly cast for an unexpectedly charming romcom that frequently dances — at one point, quite literally — between cynicism and bittersweetness with largely winning results."

Filled with spot-on acting, exuberant dance montages, and a kickin' soundtrack, Silver Linings Playbook is the feel-good film of 2012--maybe even of the next few years. See it with your significant other, your parents, your siblings and your best friends.  It is a celebration of the joys of relationships, the quirks we all possess, and the good in every situation.

I could sum things up with a witty and/or inspiring statement, but Pat accurately does so at the end of Silver Linings Playbook, so I'll let him close:

"The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday. That's guaranteed. I can't begin to explain that. Or the craziness inside myself and everyone else. But guess what? Sunday's my favorite day again. I think of what everyone did for me, and I feel like a very lucky guy."

Much Ado About Nothing: The Best Party of the Summer

It's been suggested that there exist 3 ways to film a Shakespeare comedy:  Traditional-style [ala Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream or Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing], teen-modern-update-style [ala She's the Man or 10 Things I Hate About You], or Romeo and Juliet-except-with-a-happy-ending-style [ala High School Musical or Grease].  Each, though formulaic, has led to its own brand of success.  So when it was announced that Joss Whedon, the patron saint of geekdom, would film Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, many were dubious.  After all, this was a guy whose talents lay in assembling superheroes and slaying vampires.  Things got even crazier when Whedon decided to film the entire thing over a weeklong break from filming The Avengers...in his house [to me, it sounded like a glorified home video project].  

But this modern adaptation of the original screwball comedy had one thing going for it: Whedon also decided to use Shakespeare's original script in its entirety.  It then turned out that Whedon's house was designed by his architect wife and was actually more like a mansion.  Add in Clark Gregg [aka Agent Phil Coulson] and a plethora of Buffy alumni, and things started looking up.  In fact, it was almost like a marriage of geekdom and Shakespeare. And so, while the White House was being attacked by humans and zombies alike at the multiplexes, we also got a Shakespeare adaptation worthy of the Bard himself.

The story is a familiar one:  While visiting the rich Leonato, Claudio falls in love with Leo's daughter, Hero.  After his best friend, Don Pedro, gets the two together, everyone turns their attentions to Hero's cousin Beatrice, who has sworn off love.  Their mission is to set her up with Claudio's companion, Benedick. The only problem is that both Bs hate each other.  Oh, and Don Pedro's brother, Don Jon, hates happiness and love and ergo tries to stop Claudio and Hero's wedding.

We all know how this is going to go.  But getting there sure is a blast.

My Rating: 8/10

The Good:  For a film about nothing, there's quite a bit to make much ado over here.  A few of the standouts:

1)  The Script.  You can credit this one to Shakespeare, who actually receives a credit as writer.  Many have commented on the timelessness of Will's plays, and his 16th-century script is every bit as hilarious set in modern-day America as it is in the Renaissance.  The wit is still fresh, and the situations are still relatable.  While the old-fashioned language takes a little getting used to, it ultimately flows with resonance.  Indeed, Will is possibly the best wordsmith of his time, using words with both cleverness and ingenuity, and it shines through here.

2)  The Direction.  Of course, even a movie with the best script ultimately fails without adept direction, and Joss Whedon rises to the challenge with more than competence.  Left with the task of bringing Shakespeare's hilarity to the big screen, Whedon adeptly balances the film between screwball comedy and sophisticated class.  Classic slapstick scenarios and well-placed physical comedic situations multiply the humor, while a jazz-filled score [did I mention that Whedon and his brother did the music themselves?] and luscious camera angles evoke the class.  To say nothing of his house--the vaulted ceilings and secret passages provide the perfect setting for people who have nothing better to do than gossip about each other's lives.  One scene in particular, in which the plotters attempt to convince Benedick and Beatrice separately of their love for one another, is Oscar-worthy in and of itself, using creativity and slapstick to convey one of Shakespeare's classic scenes.

3)  The Acting.  The final ingredient to Much Ado's success is its cast.  Although I was disappointed not to find Neil Patrick Harris among the Whedon Hall of Fame-ers present, practically everyone entertains.  First of all, there's Clark Gregg, and he's his typical awesome Coulson-y self as Leonato.  Fran Kranz and Jillian Morgese enchant as Claudio and Hero, the lovestruck couple at the center of the ado.  Sean Maher clearly has a blast as the scheming Don Jon.  Reed Diamond delights as Don Pedro.  Alexis Denisof will certainly steal some hearts as Benedick. Nathan Fillion absolutely steals the show late in the game as an officer called in to investigate Hero's "death" [just see it].  However, this is clearly Amy Acker's movie.  Her Beatrice is at once sympathetic and witty, casually spouting out Shakespearean verse as if it were everyday language.  Most importantly, the entire cast  blends seamlessly together, thrilling and ravishing the audience as they interact.


The Bad:  

1) Slowness.  As with many stage plays adapted for the screen, the action slows down in the middle, leaving audiences squirming and checking phones for a few minutes.  Luckily, it is just that--a few minutes.

2)  Conrade.  One of Whedon's updated moves was to change Don Jon's accomplice, Conrade, to a girl. Now, I have nothing against gender-bending, but Whedon uses the opportunity to add in absolutely unnecessary [though mercifully brief] sexual content in a couple scenes.  Moving on.

3)  The Language.  Not profanity; Shakespeare's original text.  Flowing and gorgeous though it is, it takes a few minutes to get used to.  If you truly want to enjoy the movie, my advice is to give up knowing exactly what the characters are saying.


The Message:  One thing to remember about the Bard is that his comedies rarely, if ever, feature messages of grandeur or touching moments.  However, Much Ado showcases a time when honor and virtue were held high, and the film clearly states that they are worth attaining and keeping.  The movie also features a positive attitude towards both marriage and fidelity, somewhat of a rarity with today's fare.  Finally, in satirizing gossip and its "scandalous" effects, Much Ado About Nothing gently teaches that it's always better to keep your thoughts and schemes to yourself.

The Bottom Line:  Much Ado About Nothing was my #1 "must-see" film of the summer, and it did not disappoint.  Rather, it is a film that entertains and enchants.  In fact, it's the most fun you'll have at the movies this summer.  The classiness and black-and-white give all the feel of the film noir genre, while Whedon's direction and the brilliant actors bring Shakespeare's classic to new levels of hilarity.  A few missteps cloud the proceedings, but never dampen the experience.  Indeed, Much Ado About Nothing plays out much like the cocktail party depicted near its opening: sophisticated, yet never taking itself too seriously.

And that is worth making some ado over.