Silver Linings Playbook: A Mental Illness Love Story

comedy, romance

2:02

2012

Review by Brandon Talks Movies on Apr 17, 2017

This is what I learned at the hospital. You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining.

Silver Linings Playbook, directed by David O. Russell (American Hustle, I Heart Huckabees) and starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, is a surprisingly traditional romantic comedy with very unconventional lead characters. I’ll admit, I’m usually not big on romance movies and sports analogies, so I put this one off for a while before watching it. It transcends any stereotypes or conventions set by any of its trappings, though, and was thoroughly enjoyable for me because of the charming and complex characters.

The plot centers around Pat, a man whose wife left him, as he gets out of a mental institution and seeks to win her back. Though he’s out of the institution, he’s still struggling with unmedicated bipolar disorder and not exactly stable, so he moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. Winning his wife back is challenging because she’s filed a restraining order against him. Through friends, he meets Tiffany, a woman who recently lost her husband, who agrees to help Pat win his wife back in exchange for his help in winning a dance competition.

I do this! Time after time after time! I do all this shit for other people! And then I wake up and I’m empty! I have nothing!

Reading that plot synopsis, it sounds pretty similar to a host of other romantic comedies that have been played out to death. It’s the characters that really make Silver Linings Playbook a great movie. Both of the leads suffer from mental illness and carry more than a fair share of emotional baggage, and their problems are much bigger than the cute little problems most romantic comedy leads have that get resolved neatly in two hours of screen time. The characters, their lives, and their relationships are messy and broken, but that just makes it that much sweeter when they eventually find happiness.

Especially appealing to me was the very realistic portrayal of mental illness in the film. I suffer from bipolar disorder and saw a lot of myself in Pat, and I was able to relate to Tiffany and her neuroses as well. The mental illnesses are neither romanticized nor sensationalized—they’re portrayed as awful, but still liveable, and at times hilarious. They don’t define the characters—they’re merely a part of them. In a sea of poor portrayals of mental illness, it was great to see a movie that got it right.

Should I Watch Silver Linings Playbook?

Silver Linings Playbook is a movie with a wide appeal. It’s light enough for most viewers, but there’s surprising depth to the characters and their relationships that will engage avid movie critics as well. It deals with some weighty topics, but it is not a heavy movie—it’s fun and uplifting. I’d recommend it to anyone.

Movies Like Silver Linings Playbook

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) - Set in the early 90s, this Gen-X coming-of-age story about quirky, intellectual teenagers has a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of depression and trauma. The romance (or attempt at it) resonated with me and felt a lot like my own rocky relationships with an undiagnosed mental illness. Compared to Silver Linings Playbook, The Perks of Being a Wallflower has less emphasis on the mental illness and the romance—it’s more about teens living their lives and finding themselves—but the themes are prominent enough to please fans.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Though it’s not stated, I believe Clementine in Eternal Sunshine also has BPD, and is one of the few portrayals of the disorder that is not entirely negative. This isn’t a traditional rom-com; it’s more about a couple rediscovering why they fell in love after the relationship failed. If you want a story about mentally ill people falling in love, though, this is a great one.
Lars and the Real Girl (2007) - A delusional man (likely schizoid personality disorder) eager to find love believes he finds it with a realistic sex doll. This sounds like the setup to a raunchy comedy, but the movie is very sweet and sympathetic, as everyone in the main character’s life makes an effort to help him find happiness. The romance is obviously a little one-sided, but the film handles its subject matter with sympathy and tenderness.

Academy Awards

Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Lawrence)

Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year (Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Bradley Cooper), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert De Niro), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Jacki Weaver), Best Achievement in Directing (David O. Russell), Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (David O. Russell), Best Achievement in Film Editing (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers)

Runtime: 2:02
Director: David O. Russell
Year: 2012
Genres: comedy, romance
Rating: R

About Brandon

My name is Brandon, and I love movies. Not bad ones, though—just the good ones. I’m curating and reviewing a list of classic, essential-viewing, or just plain good movies from all decades, and I've been reviewing them since 2016. I also co-host Peculiar Picture Show, a podcast about movies and mental health and write about Dungeons & Dragons options, builds, and optimization.