64- #DLMChallenge “Silver Linings Playbook”

For #64 of the #DLMChallen ge #365moviesin365days on April 16th I watched: Silver Linings Playbook.

I put this movie off more than most on my entire DLMChallenge list. I kept thinking that it was overhyped, and dumb that it’s about crazy people who are that attractive. And I got hung up on their ages. “I mean, there’s no way that a nearly forty year old man and an early 20s girl would get together!” Geez, my mind’s dumb sometimes, huh?

Not only were these “excuses” invalid, but the film was also a solid piece of filmmaking. In retrospect, I now see David O. Russell’s pattern, his style. Every movie of his that I’ve seen (which admittedly isn’t many) has his name all over it.

Now for the actors. I get why Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar, and how Bradley Cooper was nominated. I get it now. They’re good. They sold me on crazy, on their relationships, and on dance contests. I’ve entered three since then [BLATANT LIE ALERT].

If you like dramatic films of any kind, then give this one a shot, you will not be disappointed.

Main Crew:

Cinematographer: Masonobu Takayanagi (Black Mass, The Grey)

Based on a novel written by: Matthew Quick (The Silver Linings Playbook)

Written for the screen and Directed by: David O. Russell (The Fighter, American Hustle)

Main Cast:

Bradley Cooper (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Aloha)

Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay – Part 2, Winter’s Bone)

Robert De Niro (Dirty Grandpa, Analyze This)

Jacki Weaver (Stoker, The Five-Year Engagement)

Chris Tucker (The Fifth Element, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk)

Follow me on Twitter to keep up with my #DLMChallenge @GuyOnAWire

-Jamie

3 responses to “64- #DLMChallenge “Silver Linings Playbook””

Slatethesilverscreen

August 13, 2015 at 7:50 pm

Great concise review.

It is hard to believe but even pretty people get crazy some times… although on the scale of things they could be worse off!

It is a great film. I had missed the Russel film signatures, what were they?

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1. GuyOnAWire
  
  August 14, 2015 at 4:16 am
  
  While my memory cannot do this discussion justice, I will do my best:
  
  I think the one signature that I picked up on first having recently watching “The Fighter” is through his writing and directing of the non-nuclear family.
  
  He has this ability to highlight the family dynamics of each film in a way that is both quirky and charming at once.
  
  In American Hustle, he plays with similar exchanges, but clearly there isn’t a proper “family” there.
  
  I’ve heard that since “The Fighter” (and I may be misquoting him through his Director’s Roundtable– http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/director-roundtable-full-interview-655804) he was looking for more grounded stories to make after the public misstep that was “I Heart Huckabees.” He was stressed and eventually struck gold with “The Fighter.”
  
  I think it’s also the way he shoots the scenes with the family fall under the Russell style. His handheld camera adds a layer of awkwardness to the whole ordeal as well.
  
  The scene in Silver Linings where they’re invited over for dinner and the scene where Mickey tells his Mom and family what he wants to do for his career (vicariously through his girlfriend) have a heightened sense of oddness and uncomfortableness thanks to the camera work.
  
  This is what I see, you may see something different.
  
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  1. Slatethesilverscreen
    
    August 14, 2015 at 10:42 am
    
    Thanks for the info, sounds really interesting. Ill keep my eye out for it when I re-watch his films!
    
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