Directed by David O. Russell
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver & Chris Tucker
Released December 25, 2012
Watched January 14, 2012
timmmc.com score: 4/5 stars
Contenders: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Lawrence), Best Actor (Cooper), Best Supporting Actor (De Niro)
Ah, the token indie movie Best Picture Nominee.
Actually, that's not fair. Well, it kinda is. Is this considered an indie film? Regardless, it's not a token nomination... I really, really enjoyed just about every aspect of this film, more so than most of the films I've seen as part of this year's Oscar Watch.
The whole thing absolutely starts and ends with Jennifer Lawrence's performance. To me, Lawrence's performance wasn't calculated, wasn't manufactured, wasn't just thought out... it was. She completely got her character, and simply lived it. The end product was raw, personal, and absolutely real, much like Christian Bale's Academy Award-winning performance in David O. Russell's last effort, The Fighter. And like Bale, Lawrence should walk away from the ceremony with some hardware. If there's any question that Jennifer Lawrence is on the way to being one of the greats of her generation, this performance erases all doubt.
On the topic of The Fighter, there are a lot of similarities here, but one major difference: Silver Linings Playbook is an absolutely wonderful film (do recall I really did not enjoy The Fighter). Here, Russell's screenplay is much more focused, the plot much more engaging, the style much more engaging. I'm usually not a fan of the romantic genre sappiness, but here, it's just right. Great work by Russell.
All that said, the movie doesn't feel like Best Picture material if that makes sense. That's kind of where the "token indie movie nominee" description is particularly apt. Is it a better, more enjoyable film than most of the other nominees? Yes. But does it have the right feel to it for the Oscar? Not really. I certainly wouldn't mind being wrong about it, though...
