My Take: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

[caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="480"] odd couple? not likely[/caption]

Who's in it: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker

Internet Movie Database page:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045658/

(My unwavering crush on Jennifer Lawrence makes this review totally pointless but I shall try my best to be as objective as I can)

First of all, the screenplay was written by the director  - David O. Russell, the dude who also wrote I ♥ Huckabees in 2004 .  So the classy humor is already there right off the bat.

I think Cooper is an underrated actor (but definitely overrated as a Hollywood hunk) and this film proves just how effective he is. I used the term "effective" because it wasn't an Earth-shattering performance for me but the character kind of annoyed me right from the start - which means he was effective as a bipolar who was shouting and moving around mostly the entire first half of the movie. He kinda mellowed down towards the end, though.

JLaw. Wow. What can I say? I've seen 6 of her 10 films so far (most of the early ones were Indie) and this is her most aggressive role to date, not unless you count her role in The Hunger Games as aggressive.

[caption id="attachment_182" align="alignleft" width="243"] She did the finger at the Oscars and everybody still loved her for it[/caption]

I mean, in this movie, she cursed, she [really] shouted, she broke things, she spat, she proposed sex, and she practically frowned most of the time. Definitely not the typical Jen that I'm used to. But then she exudes this charm that makes the audience want to see more of her despite of what she's doing. She didn't try to be cute, either.

Although, honestly I believe that she bagged the Oscar for this film out of weak competition (all 4 of her  co-nominees were Oscar-newbies or non-winners, including a 9-year old). But it was still well-deserved though, and mind you, it's already her second nomination at age 22. Her performance is noteworthy and I like it for her fresh approach to being a "likable slut".

What I also like about the film are 2 of its supporting cast. First is Robert De Niro, who looked a little younger than recently. He did a lot of talking in this film and I enjoyed watching him as a superstitious, OCD-stricken but loving Dad. The other is Chris Tucker, who I haven't seen in a long time (yes, his last one was Rush Hour 3).  It was cool to see him show off some of his signature moves although his comedy wasn't really stretched so much in this film.

Overall it was entertaining for me and it reminded me of early Woody Allen films because of the resemblance in wit, dialogue approach and editing.

Ups: Plot and fresh narrative-style, strong performances

Downs: Could have gone with a cooler soundtrack,  and wtf Julia Stiles?

My take: 9.2/10