I have to be honest, I heard a lot about Silver Linings Playbook—its great story, the acting, the feel-good sense you should get after watching it—and I was skeptical. Everyone I asked said it was amazing; my sister even went out and bought it the day it came out. It had so much hype and it lived up to it.

Finally, a movie that actually lived up to its expectations. I’ve seen too many that were oversold, and I’ve even done it a few times myself, but Silver Linings Playbook was a beautifully crafted movie.

At its core, the movie is just another love story, but what separates it from the cliché romantic comedy is the screenplay. The story is so unconventional, yet entirely believable. We come across two mentally unstable people, who, when they come together, find the stability they have both been searching for. Maybe it’s just the romantic dance that they perform for competition, but they are able to complete one another.

The cause of Tiffany’s instability is caused by the death of her husband, which she sees as her fault for not wanting to have sex. She then becomes a near sex addict and enters a form of depression. The source of Pat’s instability is a combination of being bipolar and then catching his wife cheating on him. His disease causes him to have a major mood swing of anger and he nearly murders the other man. When they get together to dance, however, they both seem to be free of the ”craziness” that has been attributed to them.

This ingenious method of displaying a normally overused theme, where two unlikely people fall in love, allows Silver Linings Playbook to have more than just a focus on love. The audience can actually discover the characters, they can understand the pressure felt by Pat’s father and they can think about the psychological aspect of the story. I cannot say enough about the wit that the screenplay employs. With it, such a dark subject can come into light and can be made into something joyous. We are able to see the characters in depth because of the humor that brings them into the light.

Not only was the story itself worthy of an Oscar nomination, but the acting that conveyed the story was even more so. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro all put on some of the best performances of their careers. Their acting was remarkable. While only Jennifer got the Oscar, the ensemble of actors really made the movie what it is. Without this specific cast, the stellar plot might not have shone as brightly as it did. The cast was able to bring the story to life and make it real. Who better than the wild Jennifer Lawrence and the kooky Bradley Cooper to bring love to two “crazy” people?

So maybe real love is crazy.

5/5