This movie adaptation did not touch my heart the same way the book "The Silver Linings Playbook" did. But I still find myself giving it five stars because its occasionally noticeable flaws are outshone by its virtues.

The protagonist is Pat. He's a former high school history teacher and coach (as well as a bipolar disorder sufferer) who went a bit crazy after "something" went wrong with his marriage. That something landed him in a mental hospital as part of a plea bargain. We meet him the day his doting and loving mother gets him discharged from the facility. Pat is touchingly and sometimes even maddeningly naive about the chances of renewing his marriage with his wife Nikki. Like many people (including me), he's been conditioned by Hollywood and popular culture to expect a happy ending to the "movie" his life seems to be to him.

But Pat should have remembered that sometimes the happy ending that you think you want is not the ending you are going to get and the one you get is much better than the one you want. The "twist" in his life-movie plot comes in the form of a young widow named Tiffany who is struggling to overcome her own personal demons. Somehow, grudgingly, Pat becomes friends with her and then something more along the way...I won't say more than that, except to say the story has an immensely uplifting ending that put a smile on my face.

This odd love story unfolds in Philadelphia and against the backdrop of the NFL season. Pat, like his brother and father, is a rabid Eagles fan and a great deal of the story delves in what that means to love a team so much. Suffice to say that even though I'm from Washington DC (go Redskins!) it made me want to go see the Eagles play and root for them to be part of the Eagles fandom brotherhood for just a moment (so long as it wasn't a game with the Redskins).

There are three things about this story that stand out to me as being particularly praise-worthy.

1. Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely luminous as Tiffany. She may have been a bit young to play the role of someone who was in their mid-to-late 20s, but she was so beautiful, sad, and compelling, I was more than willing to suspend disbelief on that part (and besides some people do look much younger than their actual ages...and a thirty-five year old being involved with a 21 year old may be uncommon but it's hardly deviant).

2. Dr. "Cliff" Patel (Pat's therapist) is a great supporting character...especially when he reveals that he too is an ardent Eagles fan.

3. The depiction of serious mental illness like that Pat suffers (and to a lesser extent Tiffany) is not sugar-coated but not portrayed in an ugly way that might repel the viewer. The scene where Pat has a major episode and winds up scuffling with his parents is well done and heart-breaking.

So how did the movie and novel differ from each other?

<spoilers>

I think most of the changes were driven by the need to keep the story moving along and prevent the movie from getting too long. I only think the ones that made the movie a little less compelling than the book were items 1, 2, 3, and 4 below.

1. The movie ended with the Tiffany and Pat professing their love for each other at the end of the dance competition, instead of lying down on a snowy field to watch for clouds and saying that they needed each other (vice "loved"). I actually liked the book ending better, but I suppose the movie had a more Hollywood ending simply because Hollywood knows what sells.

2. Nikki did not come to the dance recital in the book, but Pat did have his brother drive him past the house where she was living with her new husband and family and seeing them happy, Pat realized his marriage was truly over and that he didn't want to bother or bother with Nikki anymore. I think that would have made a better resolution than what the movie did.

3. Pat's family was not Italian-American in the book. I didn't mind this change, but I wished that they had played down the "lovable noisy Italian American family" cliche some. All the people yelling at each other got slightly annoying.

4. Pat exchanged more letters with what he thought was his wife Nikki in the book and contrary to the movie, he did not find out that the letters were fake until Tiffany told him they were. These letters and the ones Tiffany wrote him under her own name shed a lot of useful light on Tiffany and how she felt about Pat.

5. Pat and Tiffany did not go to the beach with their friends in the movie.

6. Pat's father in the book did not have his own problems with low level OCD but was simply somewhat withdrawn from his family although he did love Pat and his wife.

7. The Eagles games featured more prominently in the book.

8. Pat's father was not a bookie in the book and did not make any bets about the outcome of the game with the Cowboys or the dance competition with his friend.

9. The dance that Pat and Tiffany did in the book was more a modern dance than ballroom, and they did better in the book than the movie.

10. The scene in the book where Pat got in a fight at an Eagles game was somewhat different than what the movie showed. Pat did not get arrested.

11. Pat did not get mugged and his leg broken in the movie like he did in the book.

12. They used different songs in the movie and book as the song from Pat and Nikki's wedding that was playing when he caught his wife cheating on him.

13. Pat's mother did not go "on strike" to try to change Pat's father's behavior in the movie like she did in the book.

14. Unlike in the book, Pat did not blot out the reason why he wound up in a mental hospital in the movie.

15. Pat was in the mental hospital for four years in the book and was hazy about how long he had been there (somewhat deliberately). In the movie, he had been away for eight months and knew that.

16. While the movie showed Pat as working hard to lose weight and get in great shape for the sake his hoped for reunion with Nikki, it was not done to quite the same degree as in the book.

<end spoilers>

So I would say see the movie and read the book...both are worthwhile, but it's the book that will stay with me more.

Finally, those who like this book/movie probably will like "Ordinary People," another story that also deals with family tragedy and mental illness but is similarly uplifting with some romantic elements.

[[ASIN:0140065172 Ordinary People]]

[[ASIN:B0018RE7GM Ordinary People]]

Patrick Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is ready to face the world! After a stint at a mental health facility, Pat wants to go back to teaching and to pursue his wife (Bea Bree). If he works hard enough, she’ll remove the restraining order and give him another chance. But is he all better? He still goes through manic episodes, and his parents (Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver) suffer the consequences. He’s not taking his medication — doesn’t want to feel “foggy” all day. But then he meets his friend’s sister-in-law, a beautiful young widow named Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who appears to have mood-related issues of her own. Pat wants his wife back and Tiffany offers to help. How? With dance lessons. She’s not a great dancer herself, but it helps relieve stress, and she thinks Pat could benefit from a few dance lessons. Tiffany has a hidden agenda though. She’s falling in love with Patrick. She hopes he will feel the same way. She also bonds with his football-obsessed father — aiming for more meaningful enmeshment. But will Patrick ever see past his self-inflicted fog?

I didn’t know what to make of this movie at first. Seemed risky — a story about a man with such a controversial mental health problem (controversial due to the constant stigmatization, but more on that later). I never read the book this movie is based on, so I dived in without knowing what to expect. I love it! LOVE. IT. Bradley Cooper shines in this film! He shows the depths of his talent, and he humanizes a man with little to no control of his emotional faculties. And Jennifer Lawrence? She won an Oscar for this role, need I say more? Even though no one knows what Tiffany’s problem is (even Patrick is at a loss), it is clear that she suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. I can see why the writer might have done this. People confuse BPD with BD all the time. Bipolar is a mood disorder and Borderline is a personality disorder. They both have mood swings, but the similarities end there.

Bipolar Disorder — once known as “Manic Depression” — is marked by radical changes in mood, energy, thought patterns, and behavior. Borderline Personality Disorder is when you have difficulty regulating your emotions, most of which is triggered by an extreme fear of abandonment. BD is treatable through medication and mood-stabilizing exercises. BPD is also treatable, but not through anti-depression, anti-anxiety or anti-psychosis medication (like Zyprexa). (Hence the scene where she tells Pat that Xanax and Klonopin don’t seem to work on her.) BPD is not a chemical imbalance in the brain — the Borderline’s brain is literally underdeveloped, from low levels of Oxytocin in the frontal lobe. This leads to self-destructive behavior, like cutting, substance abuse or sleeping with multiple partners. Dialectical Behavior Therapy is the most effective treatment for BPD. They have to do this for a lifetime. By dancing, Tiffany has come up with her own version of DBT, but she still needs the real thing. Borderline is one of five personality disorders in the Cluster B (the “Wild” cluster). Unfortunately, that means BPD is clustered with narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths. Unlike those three disorders, people with BPD still feel love and empathy toward others (at least those who don’t have narcissistic or psychotic tendencies), and therefore they’re more treatable than the others. When we think of BPD, we think Glenn Close in FATAL ATTRACTION, but Tiffany is a more realistic portrayal of a borderline. (Another realistic borderline is Clementine in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, played by Kate Winslet. And a good example of a sociopathic borderline is Amanda Seyfried’s character in CHLOE.) BPD and the other Cluster B disorders are grossly misdiagnosed all the time, hence the reason why Tiffany and the others don't know what is wrong with her.

So I love this movie! I love movies that make me think, and this one does it for me. It has complex characters, but the plot is still fun and full of heart. It has such an amazing cast. Besides Cooper, Lawrence and DeNiro, we also have Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles and Paul Herman, but the true star is the theme of this movie. People stigmatize mental health disorders an awful lot, especially Bipolar Disorder. If someone exhibits high levels of emotion, that person is immediately labeled a “bipolar.” We MUST stop doing that. 1) People with Bipolar Disorder deserve to live a dignified life, and they don’t need some jerk belittling and stigmatizing their condition and 2) unless you have a PhD in Psychology, you have no business diagnosing others (or yourself).

Great movie! It gets five solid Coconut and Hazelnut Cold Brew Iced Coffees (with a touch of brown sugar)!

Silver Linings Playbook is a combination of a romantic comedy and a drama. It stars Bradley Cooper as Pat Solitano, a bipolar man who has spent eight months in a psychiatric hospital after beating up the man with whom his wife was having an affair. He moves back in with his parents (played wonderfully by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) and makes it his mission (against the advice of everyone) to win his wife back. Pat is invited to dinner by his best friend Ronnie, played by John Ortiz, and meets Ronnie's widowed sister-in-law with mental issues of her own, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. Tiffany agrees to help Pat win his ex-wife back on the condition that he enter a dance competition with her as her partner. From there, the typical will-they, won't-they get-together storyline plays out.

The Blu-Ray extras are okay, but not extensive. There are deleted scenes, a relatively short making-of-featurette, a Q&A session featuring the director and some of the cast members after a screening of the movie, and a couple of featurettes on the dance numbers.

Overall, the movie is very good. Cooper does a great job alternating between depressed and manic, basically acting like he is on speed. He has great chemistry with Lawrence (who is a large source of the film's humor, although De Niro and Copper have some very funny moments too) as well as with De Niro. De Niro himself is great as Pat's football-obsessed father who is trying to help his son but really does not know how to do so. The biggest scene-stealer of the movie is Chris Tucker (of Rush Hour fame). He is only in a handful of scenes as Danny, another patient at the hospital who is embroiled in a fight with the hospital about whether they can keep him committed. He keeps managing to get out only to be hauled back by the cops. It's a small role that is not integral to the rest of the movie, but funny nonetheless. Personally, I like that the comedy in the movie is a bit darker than it is in most romantic comedies. It is a movie that is very well-written and acted and is definitely worth checking out.

From [...]

A gripping, charming, hilarious, and moving movie about a couple troubled people making life work in their own way. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are both at the absolute top of their game. Both actors deliver mesmerizing Oscar worthy performances and sell what was already a fantastically written script. In a smaller support role that turns out being a lot more important than at first glance, Robert De Niro brings one of the most moving performances in his recent career.

When Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released from a court ordered stay in a mental institution he moves back in with his parents. Pat’s goal is a new attitude, fitness, and to reconcile with ex-wife. His behavior is obsessive and he has no filter on what comes out of his mouth but it is clear Pat isn’t an overall bad guy. As pieces of his past are filled in, the depth of the character comes into focus. Pat Senior (Robert De Niro) at first comes off as a smaller role who throws out a couple snappy one liners but doesn’t amount to much. As the story continues and Pat Jr. and Sr. interact more it becomes very clear how Pat turned out the way he did. Pat Sr. isn’t a bad man or a bad father and mental illness can not be blamed on the individual but the personality traits carried through father and son are very well laid out and subtle. At a dinner with some old friend Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). The two seem to have no chemistry at all but end up bonding over their own social issues and medications they have been on. After a couple seeming random encounters the two form a unique and borderline hostile friendship. The friendship deepens and Pat agrees to help Tiffany with a dance competition she has been training for.

Silver Linings Playbook was advertised primarily as a comedy, the movie is very funny. As funny as the movie is it is also very deep and moving when it needs to be. Director David O. Russell really strikes a perfect balance between the deep emotions and hysterics that are delivered perfectly by the amazing cast. Along the way as Pat and Tiffany grow closer Playbook could easily have derailed and became one of several typical romantic-comedies that get churned out every year. Bradley Cooper would have needed to flash a smile and Jennifer Lawrence bear her emotions after indulging in expensive ice cream and the movie could have been shipped, sold and forgotten about. Instead the audiences were served a spectacular story about family, friends, redemption, moving forward and all forms of love. The various levels of the movie don’t just make it interesting to experience but give a lot of re-watch value beyond the humor and amazing performances. The writing is so well done that everything can’t possibly be absorbed one time through but nothing is obtuse.

Bradley Cooper has been acting for a while now and has moved steadily up into meatier roles. He has proven he can handle comedy in popular movies like Wedding Crashers (2005) and The Hangover (2009), he handled action in The A-Team, and has had more than his fair share of romantic comedies. While always delivering for the part he was given Silver Linings Playbook is the first time he got to fully stretch his legs and show off what he can do as an actor. In the best performance of his career so far (no doubt that there is more amazing performances to come from him) Cooper plays Pat perfectly. At times he is bouncing off the walls and at other times he is angry beyond comprehension but Cooper always brings these extremes up to the line but never crossing into doing too much. Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t been acting for quite as long but started her career fairly young and has had a variety of roles. Her first leading film role was in Winter’s Bone (2010) and she proved that she has what it takes to be a leading actress. As good as Lawrence did in Winter’s Bone and her other movies leading up to Silver Linings Playbook, Playbook was a whole new league to the caliber of acting Lawrence is capable of. Tiffany is a more damaged character than Pat in some way and Lawrence gives the audience no choice but to feel for her. Her performance is incredibly moving while she teeters on the brink of incredibly strong or cracked and fragile. Robert De Niro gives his strongest performance in years as well. De Niro plays a man his age, a husband and a father. There is none of the typical De Niro “cool” or toughness that seems to follow him to the majority of his roles. Taking that away he is left as a very real man. He wasn’t a perfect father or husband but a man who tried his best and he feels completely real. Pat Sr. has some obsessive compulsive tendencies, a gambling problem, and a horrible temper. A lot of these traits can be seen in both of his sons in the movie and the progression is subtle, but makes all the characters that much more complete. The supporting case is also impeccable. Chris Tucker makes his first appearance in 2005. He provides some great comedic relief and doesn’t overstay his welcome. It was nice seeing Tucker in a tame but still hilarious role since in the bast he mostly overacted and was always over the top. Jacki Weaver, Dash Mihok, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, and Julia Styles round out the rest of the cast with smaller but very important parts.

Silver Linings Playbook is absolutely one of the best movies of it’s year. Every element of the film clicks into place perfectly. There is something for every movie-goers taste and Cooper and Lawrence prove that they are a couple actresses that audiences will be seeing a lot more of in the future.

This is why we go to movies. Silver Linings Playbook is that rare breed of movie where all the moving parts got put together in exactly the right way. The dialogue is sharp, witty, insightful, funny, and often brutally honest. It respects and holds true affection for its characters and the wonderful ensemble cast makes it look easy. The direction, editing and soundtrack are spot on. It is a future classic and the best movie of the year.

Pat is an underachieving substitute high school history teacher who has just been released from the Karel Psychiatric Facility after spending an eight month court-ordered stint for nearly beating the history teacher to death when he finds him in the shower with his wife. His doting, eternally optimistic mother brings him home hoping that the worst of his previously undiagnosed bipolar symptoms are under control. But his refusal to take his meds and an unfortunate incident concerning Earnest Hemingway and a window quickly dispels that optimism. Pat is in fact clueless, living inside a self-delusion bubble in which he reunites with the truly unattainable object of his obsession, his wife Nikki. Two more mismatched souls the world has never seen but he is the only one who doesn't realize it. He plods doggedly on in pursuit, oblivious to everything and everyone else around him. His illness has removed the normal barriers that prevent him from expressing the unfiltered truth as he sees it, making for some awkward, cringe-worthy, often humorous exchanges. Pat is hardly ready for the real world.

And he certainly is not ready for Tiffany. Pat's best friend invites him over for a homecoming dinner which turns out to be a blind date with his wife's recently widowed sister, Tiffany. Tiffany suffers from severe depression and her mood swings run the gamut - volatile, bitter, vulnerable, stubborn, sexy, and sweet - all thrown randomly into a mixer and blended at high speed. Everyone is a little afraid of her. Her depression results from her guilt over her husband's death which she attributes to her loss of sexual interest in him. She sleeps with everyone in her office in an attempt to anesthetize herself from her emotional pain. She is dead inside, just breathing air. And into this web steps the unsuspecting Pat.

From the moment they meet sparks and barbs fly indiscriminately between them, much to the horror of their hosts who believe they are witnessing a train wreck in the making. But these two lost and damaged souls immediately connect, kindred spirits seeking respite from the storm. Pat is overwhelmed, unable to come to grips with guilt over the intensity of his attraction to Tiffany and the incident sends him into an uncontrolled manic episode. Tiffany feels the same connection and it jolts her far enough out of her stupor for her to see the possibilities. When Pat turns down her offer to sleep with her the flame sparks higher, her curiosity is piqued, and her pursuit begins in earnest. As she starts to nurture and guide Pat, she develops such a flaming torch for him that it would blister the skin off any ordinary guy. But he is oblivious, content just to follow her around like the lost puppy he is. She grabs the opportunity full throttle, dragging the perplexed, not-quite-ready-for-reality Pat along for the ride.

The cast is simply brilliant. Bradley Cooper is a revelation as the bipolar misfit whose philosophy consists of working hard and staying positive to find the silver lining in everything. He and Jennifer Lawrence have such electrifying chemistry together that you find yourself rooting for them to find a way to be together from the moment they meet. Robert DeNiro comes alive in his Oscar-nominated role as Pat's Eagles-obsessed, superstitious, OCD bookie father. Chris Tucker deserves special mention as Pat's equally optimistic fellow psychiatric inmate and friend Danny ("Black it up Pat!").

But make no doubt about it - this is Jennifer Lawrence's movie. At twenty two she is the real thing. Her performance here is transcendental. Even with the marvelous supporting cast holding the bar so high the movie would not work without her. She is visceral - caustic and vulnerable in the same breath. Her facial expressions hide nothing - she is fearless, willing to expose Tiffany's raw emotional core to everyone around her, warts and all as she juggles staying one step ahead of both Pats obsession as well as her own. The transformational changes that occur are put into motion and propelled forward by her. She bets everything with no guarantee that he is capable of giving her what she so desperately needs, willing to run the risk of diving off the emotional cliff for a chance at the real thing. Her character is the lynchpin of the story. And Jennifer Lawrence is nowhere to be found here. The success of the movie rides on her shoulders and she is brilliantly up to the task. Her talent is embarrassing.

The film is unapologetically romantic but dismissing it as a simple romance is missing the point. It deals with family, friendship, truth, sacrifice, and love as imperfect ideals worth fighting for regardless of your place in the world. It is a brave film. Do yourself a favor, go see it. It is ultimately a joyous affirmation of life's possibilities. And who doesn't need a little of that?

Great

I’ve watched 2x already and loved it even more the 2nd time

Well acted. A great cast and a bit weird but an interesting plot. I really loved it.