The mesmeric Jennifer Lawrence almost makes this phoney movie work – but not quite. For me at least. Claudia Winkleman on BBC’s now virtually (sic) unwatchable Twittery Film 2012 loved it; while her mate on the show, Danny ‘Boy’ Leigh hated it. Reluctantly, I’m with Danny Boy; but my wife lines up in the Claudia (grimace, grimace) corner. ‘Winkie’ as I like to call her, is the only person on the planet who can shrug her eyebrows. Mixed responses from critics too: from 2* rubbish to 5* Oscar bait.

It’s odd: in Extremely Loud and Terribly Close, Stephen Daldry used an absorbing dramatic context within which superbly and sensitively to show, not tell us, about the perplexing and deeply affecting difficulties of suffering from living one’s inner life somewhere on the spectrum of Aspergers and/or Autism. Most critics fell into two camps: those who got it and hated it; and those who, oblivious to his isolation and pain; disliked the character of Thomas for precisely the mannerisms and behaviour characteristic of his affliction.

In contrast critical acclaim, especially in the US has been heaped on this patronisingly shallow movie which trivialises and exploits rather than illuminates the self-subversive and destructive problem of bipolar disorder. You have to have more insight and imaginative sensibility than Mr Russell demonstrates here to make the clinical root of manic depression remotely romantic, let alone funny - except in a cruel or crass way.

Bradley Cooper’s Pat Solatano is a parody of a Manic depressive; given to violent mood swings, obsessive intensity often towards the most trivial of things or events. After a violent confrontation with the lover of his wife Nikki, Pat has spent 8 months in a psychiatric hospital. Deluded that he is now better and need not take his meds he persuades his mother Dolores to reject the advice of the doctors and court-order him free. He then single-mindedly pursues the equally deluded objective of returning to marital bliss with Nikki who has in the meantime, wisely, buggered off.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m sure you can find examples of Pat’s behaviour in any text book on Bipolar disorder. But symptoms are supposed to be something experienced by a person whereas Cooper’s Pat is just a bundle of symptoms in search of a recognisable character to have them. Pat’s faintly ludicrous behaviour as Russell has written and then filmed it, is simply annoying and exasperating until a hint of sympathy is sparked when we meet his father Pat Senior (Robert de Niro). Pat is the kind of Obsessive who gets OCD sufferers a bad name. Messianically devoted to his local American Football team the Phildelphia Eagles, Pat makes de Niro's other alter ego, Jack Byrnes (Meet The Fockers) seem like a laid-back pussycat.

Using Nikki’s sister Veronica (Julia Stiles) to try to find out where his scarpered wife is now living, Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence) whose grief at the death of her cop husband has found expression, among other things, in sleeping with all 11 of her work-colleagues plus a few odd strays who keep turning up at her parents' door hoping for second-helpings. Seemingly bipolar-light, Tiffany tries to deflect Pat from his doomed efforts to resurrect his marriage. One form this takes is to challenge him into partnering her in a local ballroom dance competition. There is some profoundly unconvincing father/son stuff which leads Pat Snr to risk all his savings on a ‘Parlay’ bet which links an Eagles match to Pat and Tiffany’s score in the dance competition. Although Tiffany is a sexy mover and Pat a likeable ‘hunky’ sorta guy: both are crap dancers. So the bet, the family finances and Daddy’s belated ‘trust’ in his ‘nut-job’ son all seem to be heading down the tubes. Tiffany can only get Pat to dance by lying to him that Nikki will be there to watch.

If one gave a rat’s fundament for any of these contrived characters the predictable outcome could have been as touching as Russell obviously intends. I don’t think it’s fair to blame Cooper for the failure here – he tries hard with a part so superficially written that he begins as a set of OTT symptoms only to transmute into Bradley Cooper at the end.

In the execrable The Fighter, Russell managed to write real people as cardboard characters. He is at least consistent in the narrative of Silver Linings: characters now fictional are equally foldable. Except – almost - for Tiffany.

There are very real Lawrentian pleasures here. Jennifer, magnificent in her Oscar-nominated debut role in Winter’s Bone; and entertainingly charismatic in Hunger Games, invests Tiffany with a degree of real emotional strength and passion not in the writing. Sheer power of performance turns the feisty Tiffany into a character we can begin to recognise and thus care about. Unfortunately she has no one to play off – so it all comes to nought. However she has a 2 minute-ish monologue when she takes on the half-witted macho bullshit of Pat Senior which is worth the price of admission alone. Her delicious demolition of De Niro on Pat Senior’s own masculine NFL football territory recalls one of the great moments in movies when Marisa Tomei did the same about cars in My Cousin Vinny.

Like The Fighter, this is a film consciously and manipulatively pitched at awards. They couldn’t possibly do that could they? Jennifer Lawrence is too good to get an Oscar for a second-rate role in a third-rate movie.

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Haha, I was just reading the review in the Guardian and thinking I should go and see this one (not out till Jan in France) Now you've totally put me off! Do you think the idea was inspired by that strictly ballroom dancing prog? On the subject of bipolar disorder, I thought it was well portrayed in Homeland (but I am no expert) Did you see it, Zettel?

Hi Elspeth

Homeland is brilliant! And yes there is not only authenticity but sensibility in the portrayal of Carrie's bipolar (ism? arity?). Here is a person, someone with abilities, talents, character; someone who can love and be loved; who can hold down a job but has a daily struggle with aspects of herself that make that even more difficult.

Carrie's bipolarity makes sense in the narrative arc of Homeland; it deepens the dramatic tension of the relationships and events within it while not being central to it. It is employed not exploited. Her illness is not the point.

Don't miss Killing III just starting on BBC4 Saturday nights in UK.

Best

Z

Ah Zettel,

Yet again, I find myself disagreeing wholeheartedly with you. I loved this film so much I am hoping to see it again. I thought all the performances were great and the point about the MC's character getting lost was that he had suffered a major breakdown and one does tend to lose a sense of oneself in those situations.

For me, the strongest part of the film was what you found unconvincing: how the plot, and the family at the centre of it, was subsumed in some quite ludicrous storylines. I come from a family with a good dose of personality problems. Albeit, they are on the autistic spectrum rather than being bipolar but I really recognised a family that is drawn into some really daft situations as a result of mental issues. That is what happens in chaotic families.

In my own family, for instance, my mother went on holiday leaving my father and sister, who both have difficulties alone in the house. At one point, my sister rang me up at work screaming that she needed help because my dad was after her and I could hear him hammering on her bedroom door and yelling at her. I raced to their house as quickly as possible, only to find them both calm, as if nothing had happened. I later found out that the screaming/ranting/hammering/threatening had all been caused because she had asked him a seemingly innocuous question about whether he had asked for help in a supermarket.

These situations may seem ludicrous to you but maybe that is because you have less experience of these types of problems. Personally I found Silver Linings Playbook refreshingly different because it didn't try to make anyone normal. Instead, it had a troubled family, and went with their madnesses and it was nice to see that on the big screen.

S

Hey Sarah,

Sorry for the delay in response - I've been in hospital.

It's hard when characters represent the unfamiliar extremes of behaviour driven by recognised behavioural 'conditions'. As I indicated, this was for me especially true of the critical blindness to the central character in Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close who lived somewhere on the spectrum of Autism/Aspergers.

I also tried to indicate that it was not the actual instances of Bi-polar behaviour shown in the film that did not convince me but the way they were written and therefore had to be played. I have known two people with significant bi-polar disorder: one who takes her lithium meds and the other a brilliant artist and academic who has tried to manage without because of the destructive effect on creativity.

However I have not lived with someone with this disorder or shared daily life with it. If the behavioural patterns shown within SLP ring true to your direct experience then I of course defer to your judgement. Certainly I look forward to the opportunity to re-visit the film as it finds its way to TV. Perhaps my dislike of The Fighter was too influential.

It may be that we simply do profoundly disagree on this one, and that's Ok, it happens - but I'm sure we can share the satisfaction that the extraordinary performance by Jennifer Lawrence is at least receiving deserved recognition.

This is now the second recent film I need to re-visit - the other being The Master. But that is no bad thing either.

Best

Zettel

How interesting...really enjoyed reading this exchange. I do think that polar opinions on cultural/art matters make the world a more interesting place!


This caught my eye because I found myself picking up the book last week when I accidentally left mine at home on a long journey. I enjoyed it but was baffled as to how this story could end up being the romcom it was described as in the Guardian. The two characters are such damaged people, it didn;t seem to fit with the write-up I'd read or even the poster...

Did a double take there when I read that Pat was in hospital for 8 months as it's about four years in the book. It's a big part of the story, that so much has changed while Pat has been away.

I do like Jennifer Lawrence and can see her as Tiffany. Agree that she has something special on screen.

Am still unsure whether to watch it...

Agree re brilliance of Homeland. Occasionally daft but so wildly entertaining, who cares?
Finally got round to the Killing III and finished it last week. Loved it. But thought the politics was stretched too thinly. For me, that only really worked in the first one....

[Hope you're fully recovered now Zettel]

Thanks Caroline - slow process but on the mend I think.

best

Z