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Silver Linings Playbook
Max’s View
Silver Linings Playbook
***1/2
There was a time in America when Sundays were special.
A time when communities banded together for a common purpose - a tradition that united us all.
That time is now. I am talking about NFL football.
We love it. It is what we do on Sundays. It is part of the American way of life.
If it weren’t for the NFL, I’d have a much tougher time relating to other guys.
When I’m at a get-together with a group of people I have never met before, I feel like I have little in common with the men I meet.
Normal guys talk about their cars, their home improvement projects, their careers, and I am not interested in any of that stuff. I want to talk about Project Runway, my new vacuum cleaner, and that catchy Owl City/Carly Rae Jepsen song. But I’m aware that it would be very weird for me to bring up those topics.
We all like football, however. Thanks to the NFL, I always have something to talk about with other guys.
The most amazing thing about the NFL, though, is how it brings fathers and sons together.
Fathers and sons who don’t have much in common can always talk about football. Fathers and sons who don’t feel comfortable sharing their feelings with each other can always watch a game together.
That’s what this movie is about. “Silver Linings Playbook” is a mediocre love story. But it’s a witty, insightful football story.
Pat Solitano (Robert DeNiro) is a blue collar Philly guy who isn’t good with words or emotions. He doesn’t have anything in common with his violent, bi-polar son Pat Jr (Bradley Cooper). Truth be told, he doesn’t really even like his son.
But Pat does love his son. And he loves the Philadelphia Eagles. Throughout the movie, Pat scrambles to come up with ways to bond with Pat Jr over the Eagles so that he has something to share with his boy.
Finally, he comes up with the brilliant and crazy notion of betting his life savings that the Eagles beat the Cowboys on the last day of the regular season. AND, as a parlay, Pat Jr has to earn a good score at the dance competition he is participating in with his new girlfriend (Jennifer Lawrence).
For the first time in their lives, Pat and Pat Jr are on the same side and sharing something meaningful.
The finale isn’t all that realistic. If fans really made a habit of wagering their life savings on the Eagles, the greater Philadelphia area would be an impoverished Third World wasteland at this point.
What it lacks in believability, however, it more than makes up for in humor, suspense, and heart. If you are into romance, happy endings, and the NFL, “Silver Linings Playbook” is the movie for you.
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