Bradley Cooper drops a spiral pass straight into the face of his boring career with a 180 called Pat Solitano, a seriously unhinged man trying to get his life back on track in Silver Linings Playbook. We meet him as he exits the institution he’s been inhabiting since he beat his wife’s lover nearly to death. His parents, played with salty Philadelphian good humour by Robert De Niro (New York) and Jacki Weaver (Australia), take him in as he works out, attends therapy and forges an intense friendship with the young widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). While it’s new ground for Cooper, director David O. Russell knows his gold is the fierce, grounded Lawrence, the leader of a fresh new pack of strong actresses that includes Emma Stone, Mae Whitman and Carey Mulligan. She could’ve taken the wounded bird approach to Tiffany; instead she lashes out at life like a tiger, protecting her remaining sanity. The movie is a mess, but a glorious, big-hearted, beautifully acted one.
