By Jessica Miller, Staff Writer
Comedy, drama, stars, mental illness, dancing, break-ups, hook-ups, football, the Silver Linings Playbook has this all and more! This is a movie about finding the best things in life, no matter how torn up inside one becomes; there is always a silver lining for that person to discover.
Bradley Cooper, who has starred in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II, plays the protagonist of the film Pat Solatano. Pat has spent eight months in a state mental illness institution as a Plea Bargain with the court system. Being in any type of state institution for a long period of time will really change a person, some for the worse, but Pat has use his time to better himself, and all for one reason. His wife. Pat leaves the state institution with a lot of optimism for the future.
“Let me tell ya. You gotta pay attention to signs. When life reaches out with a moment like this it’s a sin if you don’t reach back… I’m telling you,” said Pat.
However, one would think Pat is the one character that should have the least happiness. Since, before Pat entered the state institution, he lost his job, his wife and his home. To top that all off, Pat must now leave at home with his superstitious dad and nervous mother. Even though there are so many elements against him, Pat is positive that he can get his wife Nikki back, his job and his house through his silver linings. Cooper does a fantastic job playing this young man with a lot of heart and positivity that all things will turn out like he plans. Cooper engages the audience and connects with them on a level that everyone has shared at least once, heartbreak. The audience cannot help but what Pat to succeed in putting his life back on track, even though it is obvious that that life is passed him. So, when Pat meets a young woman, played by Jennifer Lawrence, named Tiffany, the audience almost instantaneously sees this as Pat’s silver lining. Pat does not however. Tiffany also has some mental health problems, but has accepted them and moved on. This duo of Pat and Tiffany creates many memorable scenes that will excite an audience from start to finish. Pat and Tiffany are more often than not seen running together. What seems like just a funny way for the characters to keep running into one another is actually a very clever way to enhance each of Pat’s and Tiffany’s feelings for life and each other. Pat wanted to run towards his ex-wife Nikki. He wanted to run back into the life he had with her, because, for him, he felt like that was how he was moving forward with his life. Tiffany was running away from her past. Tiffany found happiness in running from person to person; looking for someone that would give back the love and attention she gave to others. Pat and Tiffany eventually ran into each other and found that each had something the other wanted. Tiffany offered a way for him to get letters secretly to Nikki (since there is a restraining order put on Pat by Nikki), and Pat would give the attention and happiness Tiffany wanted by becoming her dance partner for a dance competition. The running then turns into dancing. And the dancing brought both of the characters happiness and relief from the outside world that has labeled and isolated them. In time, the audience discovers that Tiffany cares about Pat as much more than a dance partner, but will Pat chose Tiffany over Nikki?
In the Silver Linings Playbook, one will never see love the same way again.
