Saturday, January 19, 2013

#12 Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Directed by David O. Russell.


When some friends suggested we make an effort to see all the oscar-nominated films for this year's oscars, I thought it was an interesting idea and kind of opportune since I'm doing this almost365films thing (although I just realized it means I have to see Life of Pi). Since my parents were in town and we all wanted to go to a movie, we chose one that would be appealing to all the members of the family and went to the theater to see Silver Linings Playbook.

I didn't hate it.

I kind of enjoyed it at times. So I guess its gimmick is that it's not your typical rom-com because it also deals with deeper issues like mental health, recovery, etc. What it's gimmick really seemed to be was everyone yelling at each other a lot. My wife (who is not American) was fairly confused by this movie. The recurring adjective she kept using for it was "bizarre." I guess that we Americans understand and even enjoy people yelling at each other all the time. Especially if it's about football, bets or some competition of some sort. Or as a way of flirting. I guess America is addicted to dance competitions also, so that got worked into it. Charming. When we spoke about it with the friends with whom we are going to do this "see all the oscar-nominated films" project, we brought up that since it was nominated for best picture we were thinking it might have been something other than a typical romantic American, happy-ending, the team wins, our savings didn't get lost in the bet by a tenth of a point, the guy chases after the girl to tell her he loves her climactic-type movie. But as Bob put it, "Man, what the hell were you expecting when you have Robert De Niro acting like an idiot and the guy from the Hangover part 3?"

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